


Venice Ink

by zwischenimmerundnie



Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017) RPF
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe, Boys In Love, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Family Drama, Friends to Lovers, Graffiti, M/M, Music, Recreational Drug Use, Slow Burn, Teenagers, Venice Beach, artist, skater
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2019-11-15 18:55:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 46
Words: 210,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18079055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zwischenimmerundnie/pseuds/zwischenimmerundnie
Summary: Seventeen year old Timothée Chalamet is an intelligent student and talented skater, who struggles to keep his personal problems hidden from everyone around him. Armie Hammer, amazing graffiti artist, lives a laid back life, his looks and sweet talk charming nearly everyone around him. Amid family dramas, skate, music and art, these two young men will figure out that sometimes the most unexpected people can cause the biggest changes in our lives.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I´ve been working on this one for a while and I couldn´t wait any longer to post it, so here it is. Hope you like it :)

**Venice Beach, California.**

**June 2003**

  
  


The wheezy breath is the only sound echoing in the room. One the white walls, the posters remain as the only witnesses of the event. The sheets are tangled, the pillows lying on the floor next to the guitar; through the white curtains, the light of the moon enters and illuminates their naked bodies. Their legs are intertwined, their bodies pressed against each other, the sweat glued to their skins; vestiges of a night that until two months ago was unimaginable, but that now was the best of their lives.

In silence, Timothée hears the beating of Armie´s heart as his fingers caress his chest, small electrical shocks running through his body with each new touch. Armie, with his blue eyes glazed on the ceiling, gently runs his fingers through Timothée´s delicate curls; a sense of peace and fulfillment taking over them both, something they have not felt in years. When together, is like the final piece of the puzzle that is their lives finally gets complete, they understand each other and support each other in ways no one else has ever done. They belong together and together they will go through whatever life has in store for them.

When Timothée looks up, tired eyes wandering through every single detail in Armie´s face, he smiles broadly. When Armie´s finger traces his lip, he closes his eyes. And when he feels Armie´s lips kissing each and every one of his freckles, he sighs. 

"I´ve made you something," Armie whispers against Timothée´s lips.

"What?"

"Is in the garage. Do you wanna see it?"

A silent kiss and nod follows, Timothée´s eyes sparkling with anticipation and excitement. He watches as Armie sits, hands him his clothes back and quickly puts them back on; when he looks up, Armie is already standing, his hand out for him to take. A small wince escapes Timothée as he walks and Armie, ever so caring, stops immediately and turns to Timothée, cradling his face as he smiles.

"Are you okay? We can do this later."

"I´m okay, I want to see it."

"Are you sure?"

"Show me what you got, Mr. Artist."

Armie smirks at the silly nickname, kisses Timothée once more and then holds tightly onto his hand as he leads him out of the bedroom and down the hallway.

  
  
  


**Two Months Earlier**

  
  


The screams are loud enough to be heard down the streets, the furniture crashing to the ground work as a terrifying background noise to what is already such a common morning on their household. Quietly, he sits down on the edge of his bed, eyes stuck on the poster filled wall, feet nervously tapping on the ground and hands turned into tight fists that leave his knuckles pale and make the veins pop out. He isn´t sure for how long this has been happening, but the fear of waking up and seeing his mother on the ground, covered in blood and bruises, dead by the hands of a person that should be protecting them, that has intensified on the last couple of weeks.

His father has been drinking more, coming back home smelling like booze, weed and cheap motels. He has tried to talk to him many times, but all he gets from that are new bruises to match the ones his mom has. Long time ago he figured out that the neighbors don´t actually care about the screaming and breaking, they either think that´s how normal couples behave or they are too scared to do anything about it. His friend pictures him as the luckiest guy in the world, a good family, a good school record, talented skateboarder and the kind of boy who attracts the looks of many girls.

He wishes that was the truth, that he could actually have fun and be happy at his own house, but all he can feel once he steps inside that place is fear. Fear for his mother, fear for himself and even for his father. Despite everything, he would like for his father to seek for help, get a treatment and go back to being the person he was when he was a kid; despite everything, the last thing he wants is to find his father dead on his own vomit in the backyard.

He gets up when things quiet down, half relieved and half terrified for what exactly he will find outside the walls of his small bedroom. He notices his hands are trembling when he reaches for his backpack; he sighs, his lips pressed together and he has to close his eyes for a moment to regain some strength.

He swings the backpack to his shoulder, reaches for his plaid shirt and ties it around his hips before making sure his Discman is on his pockets. If he has to go through all this shit, might as well do it while listening to some music to calm his soul. He holds onto the doorknob, takes a long breath and opens it, startling himself as he sees his father stand right in front of him.

"Shouldn´t you be at school by now, boy?"

"I´m just leaving."

"Then go, the last thing I need is you moping around the house the entire day."

"I´m not you," he whispers under his breath as he walks past his father. He flinches when he feels his father´s hand grab onto his arm and pull him back. "What?"

"What did you say?"

"That you don´t have to worry about me."

He lets out a breath as he feels his father lose grip of his arm; he maintains quiet though until the man turns around and walks inside his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him. With his heart on his sleeve, he walks down the hallway, scared of how quiet his mom is, but he can´t help but smile when he sees her sitting by the table, tears falling down her cheeks, but at least no bruise. Not this time at least.

"Why you´re still here? You´re gonna be late for school, Timothée."

"Are you okay? What did he do to you?"

"Go to school, Timothée. I can take care of myself."

"Mom, you don´t have to stay here. We don´t have to stay here, we can..."

"We don´t have anywhere to go." He sighs, the pain in his chest nearly leaving him breathless; he wishes he could do something more, something that would free them from this nightmare. "Go Timothée, you can´t be late again."

"Are you sure you´re gonna be okay?"

There´s a faint smile on her lips as she nods. "Yes, I am sure. Now go, please."

Timothée nods, although a part of him wants to stay and protect her. He wipes away her tears, places a loud kiss on her cheeks and then heads out of the house, grabbing his skate on his way out. He takes a look over his shoulder, watching as his mom stands on the front porch; she waves at him and he nods once again before fixing on his headphones. He presses play on his Discman, jumps on his skate and smiles as the wind hits him. 

 

**//now_playing//** **_Numb - Linkin Park_ **

  
  


**************

  
  


Timothée takes the joint in between his fingers  and blows out the smoke, his green eyes scanning the schoolyard from the bench he is sitting. Teenagers gather around in small groups, laughing, talking loud, showing off their new sneakers or bragging about who they slept with on the last epic party. It´s not like he doesn´t engage in all of this, because he truly does, but with all the trouble he already goes through at home, Timothée yearns for more than the easy thrill of highschool parties hook ups. 

Timothée groans as someone takes his joint away from him and sits down beside him on the bench. He looks to the side, serious eyes as he stares at Zac, who takes a long drag and then blows out the smoke, a little cough fit coming right after it. Timothée chuckles, shakes his head and takes the joint back, finishing out before throwing on the ground and stomping with his feet.

"Do you want to ditch this place and go to the skate park?"

Zac turns to Timothée, his eyebrows arched in confusion. "You want to ditch school? That´s not exactly your thing."

Timothée shrugs. "I´m just kind of bored and not really in the mood to stay here today."

"Well, there´s nothing I would like more than getting out of this place, but we actually have Chemistry test today."

"Yeah, but that´s on first period. We could get out afterwards."

"You´re really not in the mood for class today, are you?" Timothée shakes his head and Zac chuckles, but quickly turns serious as he stares at his friend for a moment. "Is everything okay at home?"

Timothée freezes, a chill running down his spine at the possibility of Zac dwelling too much on the subject.

"Yeah, everything´s alright. Why would you ask that?"

"Nothing, you just seem a bit tense today. I thought it could be problems at home or something."

"Everything´s okay at home, nothing to worry about." He turns to Zac with a small smile. "So, you wanna get out of here after the test or not?"

"As if you need to ask."

Timothée chuckles and leans back on the bench, his green eyes scanning the place. A few girls pass them by, smiles on their faces as they wave at them; Zac mirrors the gesture enthusiastically, while Timothée resorts to timid nods. When it comes to girls, their approaches couldn´t be more different.

"Oh, did you hear about tonight´s party?"

"Party? I´m listening."

Zack chuckles, his fingers twisting strands of his afro as he pulls his legs up on the bench. "Lisa and her sister have the house for themselves, so they are setting something up for tonight."

"And you seem oddly excited about this. What have I missed?"

"Mary might have hinted that she wanted to hook up with me, so I think this could be a great opportunity for it."

"You and Mary?" Timothée asks with his eyebrows furrowed, unable to actually hide his surprise. "Are you fucking serious?"

"Excuse me? I can get a girl like Mary."

"Can you, though? No disrespect, bro, but Mary seems more into the football player kind of guy, so I am having a bit of trouble picturing this whole thing."

"Wow. Could you be a little more supportive?"

Timothée laughs and shrugs his shoulders, watching as his friends rolls his eyes. "I´m just being honest, I thought you´d appreciate."

"Yeah, I appreciate a lot, thank you very much."

"Oh c´mon, you know exactly what I mean."

"Yeah yeah, just shut up."

Timothée shrugs as he takes a quick look at his watch, the bell´s about to ring, half of the people who stood in front of the schoolyard are already in and as much he wants to grab his skate and run away, he knows he has to at least try to get it through this test. He bumps shoulder with Zac, who looks at him with an eyebrow raised and gestures towards the school.

"C´mon, we better get going," he says while reaching for his backpack and his skate. "I still want to go through some notes before the test."

"Two minutes ago you wanted to ditch school and now you want to study for the test? You´re so fucking weird."

"Since I am going to do the test, might as well get a good grade in it."

Zac rolls his eyes, but gets up too and lazily follows Timothée across the street and inside the school building. The bell rings the moment they make it inside, hundreds of teenagers now crowding the hallways, heading to their classes and lockers. Timothée sighs, fixes the strap of his bag and leans against the locker as he waits for Zac to grab his books. He stares at some people's faces, watches as wide smiles turn into serious and mysterious faces the moment friends walk away. He knows he is not alone, he knows there´s a lot more people that pretend to be happy when they are not; but as sad and fucked up as it may sound, realizing that makes Timothée feel a bit better with himself. 

 

***************

  
  


**//now_playing//** **_Like A Stone - Audioslave_ **

 

The skateboard slides on the asphalt, on top, talented feet lead it down the street, making maneuvers and zigzagging between people, cars and bicycles. There is nothing in the world that makes Timothée feel happier and at peace than his skateboard. The wind in his face, the adrenaline, the feeling of freedom; when he hops on the skate, the rest of the world seems to disappear. There is no more family drama or the pressure of having to decide a future for himself; at that moment he is simply himself, in it´s healthier and purest form.

Sure, that feeling doesn´t last for long; his problems are rooted on his brain, his heart and every single cell of his body. But still, it feels good to know there is at least something that can make him feel like an average seventeen year old boy. If he could actually find the strength to open up to someone, maybe things would get better, but until Timothée can find this person, someone who he will feel safe to share even the most disturbed of his fears, he rather stay in silence and try his best to get by.

"Hey! I´m gonna go grab a hot dog. Do you want one?"

Zac´s voice seems distant. Despite the fact he is standing just a few steps ahead from him, Timothée was so caught up on his own little world, he could barely make it out any word his friend said.

"Sorry, what did you say?", he asks while hitting pause on his Discman.

Zac chuckles, shaking his head. "I´m gonna go get a hot dog. Do you want one?"

"Yes, please. With extra mayo."

"I know, you weirdo."

"I´m not a weirdo for liking mayo."

"Yes, you are," says Zac with a laugh as Timothée rolls his eyes. "I´ll meet you at the park."

"Okay."

Timothée grabs his skate in his hands and lazily drags himself across the park and through the basketball court, before he actually reaches the skate park. His scans the place with frustration; broken benches, lamps that don´t seem to work since he was ten years old; box ramps are a disgrace, the kickers are cracked, rails are torn and weared out. The bowl, where he sits on the edge of, is the only thing that remains in what one could say good conditions; there´s leaves and water puddles from last night´s rain though, which is not exactly a problem, but also something he could do without.

Timothée has a dream of gathering enough people to help fix this place, replace the ramps and rails, cut the grass, add new lamps and extra illumination, put on some new benches and add some cool art, anything he can do to bring some life back to this place, to encourage people to stop by and try out the park or just sit down and watch. 

"One hot dog with extra mayo," Zac says as he hands Timothée the hot dog and takes a seat beside him on the ground. He sighs and pulls on a few strands of his hair - a tic that sometimes can drive Timothée insane- and takes a bite of his hot dog, ketchup smearing all over his chin. "It sucks to see this place abandoned like this. Can you imagine how it would be if it wasn´t for us and some of the other guys?"

"It probably wouldn´t even exist anymore, that´s why we gotta do something. Find a way to revitalize this place and bring more people in, otherwise in a few months they´re gonna tear it down and build another mall."

"Yeah, that´s why I talked to my dad about it."

Timothée arches an eyebrow, cleaning his mouth before he turns to Zac. "You talked to him? And what did he say?"

"That he has to talk to his associates, but he thinks he can help us with this project. We´ll have to go to the city hall though, explain what we want to do and all that shit. He was very strict when he said we can´t simply renovate the park without permission."

"It´s not like they are paying any attention to this place."

"Still, we have to go there and talk to them."

"Okay, we´ll do that." He smiles slightly, a little bit of hope consuming him. "Now we just have to find people who would be willing to do some cool art here without really getting anything in return. Happen to know anyone?"

"I do, actually." 

"You do?"

"I know people, okay? It´s not like you´re my only friend."

"Yes, I am."

Zac punches Timothée´s arms, rolling his eyes as Timothée feigns being hurt. "My cousin does graffiti and he has some friends who are incredible at it, I think I could talk them into coming here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, they usually hang out by the wall, maybe we could stop by there sometime and talk to them. If we can get Armie to do something here, it will be perfect."

"Who the hell is Armie? Your cousin?"

"My cousin´s super talented friend, the guy is a graffiti genius, so if we can get him on board, then we´re cool."

"If you say so."

 

***************

  
  
  


"Do you got weed?"

"I´ve got some," says Timothée as he reaches inside his pocket, taking a little plastic bag out of it. "But I wouldn´t worry much about it if I was you."

"And why is that?"

"First, because this is a high school party, so there will be a lot of weed. Second, you want to hook up with Mary, I suggest you lay low on the weed and try to keep yourself as sober as possible....Lord knows what you could do if you get high."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Timothée turns to Zac, a serious look on his face. "That you won´t even know where her mouth is."

"What the fuck?"

"You told me you were so damn high when you went out with Rosely, you could barely find her mouth. So, I´m just looking out for you, seriously."

"First you don´t think I got what it takes to hook up with Mary, now you think I won´t even know what to do? What have I done to you, dude?"

"Oh for fuck´s sake, I am just joking."

"Yeah, right."

"I am," Timothée insists as Zac rolls his eyes and walks faster, leaving him behind. "Oh c´mon, there´s no need to get hurt, Zac."

Timothée groans and rolls his eyes, but then runs to catch up with Zac, punching his arm as he does so. Zac simply looks at him, then gestures towards the house down the street, to which Timothée nods. They walk the rest of the way in almost silence, sharing just a couple words about the new records they want to buy. Once they finally make it to the house, they stop in front of it, eyes wandering around and taking in all the people who walk in and out.

"I have a weird feeling about this party," Timothée admits.

"Why exactly?"

"I don´t know," he says with a shrug. "It´s just a weird feeling inside of me, like something is about to change. And I don´t even believe in this crap, but here I am."

"In what you don´t believe?"

"In this whole a bigger plan shit, an external force that has our future set up. I think we make our own destiny, so I don´t even know why the hell I am feeling this."

"Wanna know what I think?"

"Yeah?"

Zac chuckles as he turns to look at Timothée, "I think you smoke a bit too much."

Timothée nods, "maybe you´re right."

"C´mon, we have a party to enjoy, my friend."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It´s time to meet Armie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I´m glad you guys seem to be enjoying this one so far and hope you like what´s about to come.

**Venice Ink**

**Part2**

  
  


He moves around on the bed, his naked body illuminated by the sun light as he buries his face in between the pillows and tries to get back to sleep. The alarm goes off before he can fully accomplish his task though and with a loud groan, he reaches for the alarm and turns it off. The room goes back to silence for a minute, his body completely still on the bed, his breathing slow and steady; he tries, desperately in need of a few more hours of sleep, but the heat it´s too much to bear and as the sweat that coats his body starts to annoy him, there´s nothing he can do but get up.

He sits up on the bed, face buried in his hands as he takes a couple of deep breaths. When he finally looks up, he frowns at the mess his bedroom is in; there´s clothes, shoes, magazines and a towel on the ground, while on the wooden table, papers, pencils, stencils and tubes of ink are spread around along with the green Macintosh. He can´t even remember the last time he actually cleaned this place, but he knows for sure it won´t be today.

He gets up with a sigh, scratches his butt cheek and languidly moves his body out of the bedroom and down the long hallway. Already inside the bathroom, he stretches his arms and legs before heading to the shower, allowing the cold water to cascade on top of him. He lets out a soft moan, the cold washing off his sleep but also the sweat that has taken over his body. It´s not even mid April and the heat is getting worse every day that goes by; he knows Summer is gonna come with full force and he´s not really sure he´s ready for that.

By the time he makes it back to his bedroom, he knows he has to be quick or else he is gonna be late for work once again and, as great of a guy as Paul is, he won´t keep forgiving him every time he screws up. He looks through his closet, well he calls it a closet but it´s actually just a clothes rack, grabs a pair of his usual cargo shorts and a wife beater and puts it on; normally he would go for one of his old t-shirts, which have way too many holes and ink on it, but it´s way too hot for that.

The smell that comes from the kitchen when he leaves the bedroom is nearly intoxicating, fresh brewed coffee, toasts and eggs, all displayed on the counter as Lois sits down on a stool, her eyes down on the newspaper as she takes a few sips of her coffee. She looks up as he approaches, her big blue eyes eyeing him up and down as he joins her on the counter; he arches an eyebrow, waits for her to say something, but as she keeps herself quiet he simply goes to serve himself some coffee.

"Aunt Julia called, you know." She folds the paper, tosses it to the side and takes a bite of her toast. "She says she has tried to talk to you four times this week, but you won´t answer. She´s worried and she asked you to call her when you have the time."

"Huh, okay."

"I´m serious, Armie, just call her."

"What for? So she can judge every single thing I do with my life?"

"C´mon, you know it´s not like that."

"It´s exactly like that. I can talk to my dad without the fear of him judging me for getting a haircut, but when it comes to mom everything changes. She can´t keep herself quiet, she always has to find a way to say something mean and I don´t want that in my life right now."

"So you´re just gonna ignore her? She´s your mother, Armie. You might have your differences, but she raised you, she understood that you were not happy on that house and allowed you to leave, she granted you your emancipation. Maybe you should think twice before judging her too."

Armie stares at his cousin for a moment, finishes his coffee and hops off of the stool. He grabs his backpack on the couch, swings it over his shoulder and then puts on his headphones; he takes a quick look around the room, making sure he hasn´t forgotten anything and walks to the door, stopping only when he hears Lois shout out his name.

"What?", he asks as he looks at her over his shoulder.

"You barely ate anything, take an apple with you." 

Armie grabs the apple mid air and nods towards his cousin, a small smile on his face as he heads out of the house. He takes in a deep breath, grabs his bike and hops on it; he takes a small bite of the apple before hitting  _ play _ on his Discman and pedaling down the still quiet streets. Another day ahead of him and he plans on enjoying it as much as he can.

 

**//now_playing//** **_Seven Nation Army - White Stripes_ **

  
  


**************

  
  


The pier is crowded, the spring weather motivating people to leave their houses and fill the streets. Music plays in all the stores, kids run around with ice creams, girls and boys parade with their new bikinis, sneakers and the latest Discman. Some teenagers makeout against the parapet, some contemplate the ocean while others brave the heat as they work.

The record store has its doors open, welcoming the cool breeze of the ocean to come in and make work a little more bearable. Paul is behind the cashier, his black eyes attentive to the screen of his Macintosh, working on all the boring and bureaucratic issues of the store.

Armie is leaned against the door, his blue eyes hidden behind his shades, his arms crossed against his chest as he pays a close attention to every single girl that walks past him. He winks at some of them, a smug look upon his face; he knows he is good looking, he is aware of the effect he has on most women and doesn´t hesitate on taking advantage of that from time to time.

"Hey, pretty boy. You have a whole stack of records to catalogue and add on the racks, so how about you get away from this door and start working?"

Armie sighs, takes off his shades and walks to the pile of records on the top of the table. The heat is nearly unbearable and Armie barely has any will power to actually do some work, but he drags himself around the store, making sure to check if every album corresponded to the one in the paper sheets, and place all albums on their righteous places.

He comes across some quite interesting albums and makes a mental note to play some of them on the store, which lately is his way of finding new music. He hears some movement, looks over his shoulder and smiles as his friends walk inside the store, loud as always and but also the nicest people he has ever come across.

"Hey there, pretty boy!" Jake shouts as he throws himself in one the armchairs scattered around the store.

"I wonder when you´ll stop calling me this way."

Mark chuckles, his long red hair falling down his shoulders as he leans against a rack, going through every single album. "You should just get used to it, dude, I highly doubt that´s gonna go away anytime soon."

"Hey, Paul!" Jake shouts, his arm raised as he does the peace sign. "My sister wants to know if the discman she ordered arrived."

"Only next week, like I´ve told her before."

Jake chuckles as he turns back to Armie. "You´re going to the wall today?"

"Not only am I going, but I also bought a whole new set of ink and I can´t wait to use it." He grabs his backpack, throws it on Jake´s direction and smiles as he sees the expression of awe in his friend´s face. "What you think?"

"I think you need to finish your job as soon as possible, cause I can wait to do a test drive on those pretty things."

"He still has about two hours ahead of him, so you two could go take a walk around the pier instead of crowding my store and keeping my clients away."

Mark gasps, his fingers pushing his hair back. "Damn Paul, now you´ve hurt my feelings."

"Go by some ice cream to make it better, Mark."

Armie and Jake laugh, watching as Mark shakes his head and grabs his skateboard, heading out of the shop. "I´ll go with him," says Jake as he gets up from the chair. "Gotta keep that boy in line and make sure he won´t drop his ice cream."

Armie smirks, leaning against the racks. "Go before he gets in some kind of trouble. I´ll see you guys in a few, okay?"

"Will be waiting for you, pretty boy," he says singing the last two words.

"Fuck you."

 

************

 

**//now_playing//** **_In Da Club - 50 Cent_ **

  
  


Underneath the intense sun, they line up along the wall, each one of them working on one specific piece, which once finished will complement the other´s work. Armie is on the middle, his head bobbing to the beat of the song, his lips -which are covered by the bandanna that protects his nose from the intense smell of ink- sing along the lyrics, but his big blue eyes remain focused on his part of the work. He takes a few steps back to appreciate the whole thing, a proud smile coming to his covered lips as he sees the art taking shape; his part is the drawing of a black woman, with a big afro and stylish sunglasses. He reaches for the can of red ink and shakes it up before starting to fill the space of the lips, leaning closer to the wall to make sure he does it perfectly.

"Fuck," Jake mutters and shakes his head, catching Armie´s attention. "Does this look good for you guys? I feel like there´s something wrong with it."

Armie removes the bandanna from his nose, lets it hang on his neck and moves to stand beside Jake, his eyes scanning the entire drawing. "I think you can change the lines on the eyes a little bit, they´re not really suiting the rest of the drawing."

"But how the hell do I do that now? I´m stuck in this thing."

"May I?" Armie asks, pointing over to can the ink on Jake´s hands.

"Go ahead, pretty boy."

Armie chuckles, grabs the can in his hands and then turns back to the wall, doing quick and precise movements. He takes a good look at it, does a few more quick changes and then turns to look at Jake, arching an eyebrow as he waits for his friend to say something.

"I hate you, you know."

Armie chuckles, tossing the can back to Jake. "No, you don´t."

He turns back to his piece, finishes coloring the lips then moves to finish the sunglasses. It takes him a good ten minutes to finish, but once he is done he lets out a deep sigh and sits down on the curb, lighting up a joint as he watches some girls and boys on the beach.

"I almost forgot to tell you guys," Mark starts as the boys turn to look at him. "My cousin wants to talk to us, apparently he has this project he wants us to be part of."

Armie arches an eyebrow. "A project he wants us to be part of? What kind of project is that?"

"He didn´t explain it very well, to be honest. But I told him to drop by here someday during the next week so he can talk to you guys too, it is something about a skate park."

Armie exchanges a quick look with Jake, but then shrugs his shoulders and turns back around. He takes a drag of his joint, blue eyes wandering around the whole area and blows out the smoke; he looks over his shoulder, a smile on his face as he finally looks at the wall as a whole. 

"What you looking at, pretty boy?"

"I really like how this is turning out, guys. I think we´ve outdone ourselves this time."

"Want to celebrate by going to a party tonight?"

"Party?!" Both Armie and Mark say in unison as Jake chuckles.

"Yeah, Meg and her sister are alone for a few days and decided to throw a party. She invited me and said I can take some friends with me, if I want to."

"I´m in, I am in need of a party."

"Yeah, because your life is so tough."

Armie chuckles, but shakes his head. He tosses the joint on the ground, stomps on it and then gets back up. He grabs another can and gets back to the wall, selecting yet another part of the piece to start filling. 

 

*************

  
  


"What's up, cousin?", Armie nearly shouts as he tosses his backpack to the floor and throws himself on the couch, his dirty Converse landing on Lois' lap, who groans and pushes his feet away from her.

"You smell terribly."

Armie chuckles, kicking his shoes off as he sits down properly. "A delicious mix of sweat, ink and weed."

"Turn into a cologne, maybe you can get some money out of it."

"I wish." Lois turns to face him, a contemplating look on her face as she bites on her lips. Armie knows the face way too well, is the same one she does since she was a child. "What? Don't keep staring at me, just say what you want to say."

"Have you called Aunt Julia?"

"Seriously?"

Lois shrugs, her eyes stuck on Armie. "She is really worried, Armie. It isn't fair that you do this to her."

"I'll call her tomorrow, okay?"

"You promise?"

"I promise," he says while rolling his eyes.

"Thanks." She leans in, places a quick kiss on his cheek and then gets up, heading to the kitchen. "You staying home tonight?"

"No. Jake knows these girls who are throwing a party tonight, so I'm going with him. Wanna join us?"

"Hell no, I am going out for dinner with Steven tonight."

Armie shakes his head, turning on the couch so he can actually see his cousin. "Why are you still dating that guy? He's so fucking boring."

"I'm dating him because we actually have feelings for one another, Armie. Maybe you should try it sometime."

"Try what?", he asks with an eyebrow arched.

"Going out with someone you actually care instead of just having meaningless sex with random girls."

He nods, a mocking thoughtful look on his face, which makes Lois roll her eyes. "But what is the fun in that?"

"You'd surprise yourself."

"Yeah, I don't really see that on my future." He get a up, reaching for his backpack and shoes as he does so. "Have fun in your boring dinner with your boring boyfriend, I'm gonna go get some rest and then actually have some fun."

Lois nods, not even bothering to pay much attention to Armie as he walks down the hallway to his room. He locks the door behind him, throws his things on the ground and plows himself on the desk chair; he grabs paper and pencil, his eyes stuck on the wall as he tries to get his thoughts together, figure out exactly what he wants to do. As he starts sketching some ideas for his next project, he hears the little  _ pong  _ noise coming from the computer and once he looks up, his msn page is open, at least two conversations waiting for an answer.

One of them is from Jake, which can easily be ignored for now; while the other belongs to Alex, a gorgeous nineteen year old girl Armie has been seeing lately. As usual, he made sure she understood that they had nothing serious, they would simply go out occasionally and each one of them could do whatever the hell they wanted when apart. Armie smirks as he reads her messages, asking if he will also be at the party; he replies it as quick as he can, but still manages to be his always charming self.

 

**//Alex_1984//:** u coming to the party 2night?

Thought we could hang

I miss our "talks"

 

**//armandoeldestructo//:** it would be my honor to hang out with u 2night milady

 I will be there around 9pm

 

**//Alex_1984//:** great

           my parents are staying at my aunts 2night

            maybe you could crash here

 

**//armandoeldestructo//:** dont tempt milady

 ;) ;) ;)

 

**//Alex_1984//:** maybe I want to tempt u

          u still own me a drawing btw

 

**//armandoeldestructo//:** and i will give it to u as soon as its done

 think its easy to convey so much beauty through one little drawing?

 

**//Alex_1984//:** i will patiently wait then

           see u later

           ;) ;) ;)

Armie leans back on the chair, a wide grin on his face as he stares into the screen for a while. He replies with a  _ okay,  _ closes all other windows and then turns off the computer. He goes back to his sketch, a giant carp he plans on painting on the near future, but finds himself way too tired to actually pay the necessary attention to it.

He looks around the room for a while, checks the time on his phone and then moves to the bed. It's hot and the sheets kind of make him itch, but he's so damn tired, it doesn't take more than five minutes for him to drift off to sleep.

 

************

 

**//now_playing//** **_Cry Me A River - Justin Timberlake_ **

 

Armie fills yet another glass of vodka, his blue eyes wandering around the place, smiling at familiar faces and waving at some people from high school. The house is packed, people dancing, talking and making out in every single corner; the music is so loud it nearly seems like the house is shaking, but no one really seems to mind. 

He fist bumps with some random guy he has never seen before, but that seems to know him, gives the guy a quick nod and then heads back to where his friends are. He leans against the wall, takes a few sips of his drink and then nudges Jake, who turns to him with an eyebrow raised.

"I can´t believe you brought me to a party to listen to Justin Timberlake."

"The girls throwing this party are sixteen and nineteen, what the hell did you expect?"

"Something better than Justin Timberlake."

Jake chuckles, a quick shrug of his shoulders. "There´s no one really taking care of the music, you could sneak out there and change it to something a bit more...let´s call it interesting."

"That´s actually a great idea," Armie says with a smirk.

"Then go, pretty boy."

Armie bites on his lip, contemplates on which music he should choose and then slowly makes his way around the people, pretending to dance and enjoy the whole thing. He feels a hand on his arm and turns around, a wide smile spreading to his face as he sees Alex standing there. 

Her short black hair now has red highlights, which match the lipstick on her lips. Her big green eyes nearly sparkle as she stares at him and pulls his body closer to hers; Armie wraps his arms around her waist, his lips on hers in a matter of seconds.

"I´ve missed you, you know." Alex´s lips barely even leave Armie´s, her hands holding tightly onto his arms. "What you say we find some a quiet place to make it up for all the time we lost, huh?"

Armie smirks, his lips leaving quick kisses down her jaw, loving the soft giggles and moans that escape her. "I think I know a place good enough for that."

"Lead the way, pretty boy."

He takes her hand in his and gestures over to the stairs, a mischievous smile on his lips. They rush up the stairs, search for the nearest empty room and seclude themselves inside the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind them. 

Alex presses Armie against the wall, her red lips leaving marks all over his neck and chest. She holds onto his waist, presses his body against hers and locks their lips together, kissing him fiercely. Armie runs his fingers through her hair, pulls on her bottom lip and smiles as she leans on her tiptoes, nibbling on his ear.

"Want a little treat?"

"Always."

She winks, pecks his lips softly and then kneels down on the floor, her hands quickly working on unbuttoning his jeans and pulling them down. Armie watches her with his lip trapped in between his teeth, his cheeks getting flushed as he closes his eyes, a low moan leaving his lips.

"Oh shit!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It´s time for their worlds to collide.

**Venice Ink**

**Part3**

  


**//now_playing//** **_I'm A Slave 4 U_ **

 

Timothée chugs down another cup of beer, trying to drink away the boredom of this party. The music is crap, the people who have engaged in any kind of conversation with him, all seemed shallow and annoying. He leans against the wall, arms crossed as he watches Zac coming over, an irritated look upon his face.

"Did you find Mary?"

"Yes, I did. She was sticking her tongue down Jackson´s throat." Timothée bites on his lip, trying his best not to laugh. "C´mon, just say it."

"I told you, man." He shrugs as Zac rolls his eyes. "Now I need you to be honest with me, did she actually say there was a chance for you guys to hook up, or did she simply invited you to the party?"

"She did say it!"

"Are you sure? Weren't you fixing your hair while she was talking, because you get very distracted when you do so."

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"You know it´s true."

Zac takes the cup away from Timothée, moves to the table were the drinks are lined down and pours some vodka down. He takes a few sips of it, the liquid burning down his throat as he starts coughing.

"You don´t even like vodka, dude."

"I know, but beer is not enough right now."

"If you say so."

"You know what, I think I´m gonna ditch this place and go home."

"Hey, do you mind if I sleep at your place tonight?"

"Again?"

Timothée looks down, a quick shrug as he bites on his lip. "It´s okay, dude, you can just say no."

"No no, that´s not what I meant. It´s just that on the last two months you probably slept more at my place than your own. I was just wondering if everything´s alright."

"Yeah, everything´s okay. But my mom said she is working on a little dinner for her and my dad, so I want to be as far away from the house as possible."

"Ew," mumbles Zac as he understands exactly what that might entail, even if it's all a lie. "It´s okay, dude, you can crash at my place any time."

"Great, I´ll just go to the bathroom."

"I´ll wait for you outside, if I have to listen to any more Britney Spears I´ll go crazy."

Timothée chuckles, nods his head and then makes his way around the crowded house. He takes the stairs two steps at a time, opens a few doors and then moves along to the last one in the hallway, opening up wide.

"Shit!" He says as he comes face to face with a guy leaning against the wall while a girl is on her knees in front of him, her mouth full. He locks eyes with the guy, both of them not really sure of what to do for a second, but then Timothée seems to recover his sanity and takes a step back, slamming the door shut behind him.

He bites hard on his lip, not sure if he should be creeped out by what just happened or if he should laugh his ass off. He takes a moment to recover himself and then shakes his head, heading back downstairs and out of the house.

Zac is waiting for him sitting on the sidewalk, texting on his big Nokia phone. He looks up as he hears steps approaching him and furrows his eyebrows as he sees Timothée sit down beside him.

"I thought you were going to the bathroom."

"I was, but end up catching a guy getting a blow job."

"Excuse me?"

"I opened the door and this guy was standing there, pants around his ankles while this girl sucked him off." Zac bursts out laughing, a few tears actually coming to his eyes as Timothée sighs, shaking his head. "You laugh because you were not the one who had to go through this."

"Did they stop as you opened the door?"

"No and I am glad they didn´t."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You really wanted me to stand there and watch as this girl took the guy´s cock out of her mouth? I saw enough as it was, I already won´t be able to sleep tonight."

"Wow, and here I was thinking this party had been a complete waste."

"Very funny," says Timothée. "Can we go?"

"Yes, maybe we can play some playstation or watch a movie? My mom rented some stuff for the weekend."

"Horror movies?", Timothée asks as they get up and head down the street.

"I´m sure there are some."

"Good, I need that to make me forget the whole bj debacle."

  


************

  


"...and the guy just barged in the bathroom."

Jake cringes, shaking his head before he takes another bite of his burger. "What exactly did he see?"

"Thank God, just me leaned against the wall and Alex on her knees."

"You do know there´s this thing called locks and normally people like to use it, especially when there´s sex involved."

"Geez, Jake, thank you so much for such precious information."

"You were the one who decided to get a blow job and forgot to lock the door, now there´s a guy out there spreading to everyone he knows he saw your dick, and he will probably claim to be a small one."

"He didn´t even see it!"

Mark smirks, stirring his soda with his finger. "As if that matters, dude."

"I don´t even know the guy, so I highly doubt he will go around spreading to everyone he saw my dick. Which he didn´t actually do it, Alex made sure to cover that up," he says with a wink.

"Yeah, don´t need to know about that."

"Since we´re talking about it, how come are you here with us instead of being with Alex?"

Jake nods, pointing over to Mark. "He´s right, why are you here?'

"We were heading back to her place since her parents are out of town for the night, but her friend wasn´t feeling so well so she decided to help her get home. So now here I am, eating burgers with you guys instead of having sex."

"Blue balls for Armie tonight," Jake says in between laughs. "Maybe you should try to get a hold of that guy who caught you, he might be willing to help."

Armie throws a fry at Jake, who dodges it and watches it fall to the ground. He turns back to Armie, sticks his tongue out and then stuffs his mouth with burger.

"Are we going to the wall tomorrow? My cousin was going to meet up with us, but he has to help my uncle with some shit, so he might not show up."

"I can´t really," Jake says, leaning back on the chair. "Family lunch tomorrow, it´s my sister´s birthday."

"I plan on spending my whole day stuck at my garage, I got some paintings to finish."

"The artist is speaking," Mark says nudging Jake. "When are you actually gonna sell some of those paintings, huh?"

"Probably never."

  


*************

  


The lights are dimmed down while the tv screen illuminates the bedroom, sounds of fighting and grunting echoing in the entire place.  The boys are sitting on the floor right in front of the bed, legs crossed and eyes stuck on the screen; there´s a bowl of popcorn in between them, a bag of weed and some soda, but none of that really matters at the moment.

Timothée bites on his tongue for concentration, moving from side to side and front to back; his fingers hit the buttons on the controller as fast as he can, nearly sinking it. He furrowed his eyebrows, millions of expressions going through his face until he groans, throwing the controller down on the floor as he leans back on the bed.

"I told you, Tim. You suck at this and there was no reason to keep on playing, but you never listen to me, do you?"

"Fuck you, Zac."

Zac chuckles, bumps shoulders with Timothée. He grabs some popcorn, stuffs into his mouth and then shoves the bowl to Timothée, who gladly takes it on his hands. He reaches for the dvds lying on the floor and starts going through it, trying to find a good one for them to watch.

"What you feel like watching? We´ve got 8 Mile, Gangs of New York, Catch Me If You Can or The Ring?"

Timothée arches an eyebrow, places the bowl down on the floor and leaps on top of Zac, trying to take away the dvds from him, who does his best to hide them away. "What is that? C´mon, show me."

"There´s nothing else, just the ones I told you about."

"You´re lying."

"No, I am not."

"I can fucking see it."

"You´re seeing too much, dude, I guess you smoked a bit too much today."

"You either let me see it or I´ll mess your afro."

Zac glares at him, "you wouldn´t dare."

"You know I would." Zac stares at him for a moment and then sighs, allowing Timothée to reach to the dvds. "A Walk To Remember? Are you fucking serious?"

"I told you my mom was the one who got these dvds, I have absolutely nothing to do with it." Timothée raises his eyebrows and Zac rolls his eyes. "I´m serious, okay? She is the one who likes this type of movie."

"Yeah, right."

"So, what the fuck do you want to watch? I don´t have the whole night."

"It´s Friday, of course you do.", he says while handing 8 Mile over to Zac.

"Nah, I got to help my dad with something tomorrow."

Timothée leans his head back on the bed, his confused eyes wandering to Zac. "I thought we were going to meet your cousin at the wall, or whatever is the name of that place."

"We were going to, but like I said, my dad asked me to help him with some shit. Can we go on Sunday?"

"Yeah, that´s fine by me. I made some research on it, scheduled an appointment at the city hall on Monday and hopefully we can start things by the end of the week."

"I hope so too, I´m actually excited about this whole thing."

"Good, because we´ll need enthusiastic people if we want to make sure this works." Zac nods and Timothée points to the tv. "Are we gonna watch that movie or not?"

  


**************

 

Timothée stands in front of the house, his lip trapped between in teeth, nearly drawing blood as he tries to build enough courage to actually walk inside. He fixes the strap of his bag, a sigh escaping him as he finally takes a few steps forward, trembling hands holding tightly onto the strap of his backpack.

Everything is quiet when he walks in, which in a normal house would be considered a good thing, but here it brings shivers down his spine. What if there´s something wrong with his mother? What if his father finally succeeded in destroying the only good thing Timothée still has in his life?

He hears the door open behind him and turns around quickly, a sigh of relief escaping him as his mother stands there with some paper bags in her hands. Shopping, she was out doing some grocery shopping.

"Thank God you´re okay."

"Of course I am okay, sweetie, why wouldn´t I be?"

"You know exactly why, mom." He takes the bags from her, kisses her cheek and then follows her to the kitchen. "I´m sorry I didn´t come back home last night, but the party ended a bit late and I just crashed on Zac´s place."

"It´s okay, sweetie. You know I just want you to have fun and enjoy your life."

"It´s not easy to do it, mom, not when he´s around."

"Timothée..."

"We can get out of here, mom."

"And go where? With what money? This is where we belong, Timmy, this is where we´ll stay."

"He beats us, mom. He nearly broke your arm the other day, you can´t stand here and tell me you actually want to stay here in this house with someone like him."

"He´s your father and my husband, we can´t just walk away from him."

"We´re not the bad people here, mom. You have the right to leave this hellhole, to build a life for ourselves and be happy. We can get out of here, get jobs and rent a trailer somewhere else. I don´t really care where we go, let´s just go."

"I´ve said no, Timothée."

"And what are you gonna wait for, mom? To the day he kills you? Because that´s what´s gonna end up happening if we don´t do something about it. We have to get out of here and tell the police what he does."

He winces as his mom grabs onto his shirt, pulling him closer to her. "You´re not gonna do anything, do you hear me?" Timothée remains silent, his teary eyes locked on his mother. "Do you hear me, Timothée?"

"Yes."

"Good, now go take a shower so we can have lunch."

He nods and heads over to his bedroom, locking the door behind him. He throws himself on the bed while his backpack falls on the ground, he kicks off his Converse shoes, his eyes stuck on the ceiling as he wonders for how much long he will have to go through all of this. And most importantly, for how long will his mother act like his father isn´t doing anything wrong; he knows well enough it ain´t easy to simply walk out from someone else, but he fears she will only realize how dangerous her situation is when it´s a bit too late.

  


***************

  


A sigh leaves Armie as he steps back from the canvas and drops the brush down, his blue eyes taking in the whole thing with the usual uncertainty that follows him whenever he is actually painting something. When he is out in the streets, graffiting on walls, he feels like the greatest man in the world; but inside his garage, with ink, canvas and brushes, he hardly ever likes what he does. The result of this is a garage filled with unfinished projects, which stare at him almost in mockery.

The newest unfinished project is a drawing of a man, penetrating eyes and strong features, which he started sketching one sleepless night and end up with a whole piece. As of right now, half of it is painted with bright and hypnotic colors, while the other half remains only on the thin pencil tracing. Armie shakes his head, sits down on his skateboard and keeps staring at the thing, trying to understand exactly what it means and most importantly, why on earth he keeps on bailing on his projects halfway through.

"Good morning."

He looks over his shoulder, smiling slightly as Lois walks in with two mugs on her hands. She sits down next to him and hands him a mug, which he gladly takes it as they both turn back to the canvas.

"What you think?"

"It´s stunning, Armie."

"You really think so?"

"Of course I do. You are an amazing artist, cousin, you need to finish all of these paintings and find a way to sell them."

Armie shakes his head, his lips pressed against the mug, feeling the warmth of it. "I´m not selling material, all my background comes from graffiti and..."

"What the hell are you talking about? You are an artist, Armie, you have so much talent and the world should be able to see it."

Armie smiles and nudges Lois with his shoulder. "Thank you, but I doubt anyone else thinks the same."

"Are you fucking kidding me? I have yet to find someone who doesn´t think your graffitis are anything other than amazing, Armie. You are an artist, you have an incredible eye for this, you are able to convey so many emotions with your stuff and if you actually put these painting for sale, I´m sure they wouldn´t last long."

Armie remains quiet, his eyes wandering from the painting to his cousin, who smiles and leans closer to him, placing a kiss on his temple. He smiles up at her as she gets up and then bites of his lip, allowing her words to repeat themselves on his head.

"Hey Armie," Lois says softly, getting Armie´s attention back on her. "You are talented and this is a beautiful painting, you should finish."

"I´ll think about it."

"You do that."

Armie watches as she closes the door and then takes a couple more sips of his coffee, his eyes wandering through every single detail on the canvas, every little line he drew and that now waits for his finishing touches. He bites hard on his lip, takes on a deep breath, reaches for the brush and wets it on green paint before he moves to start working on the eyes.

  


************

  


"I´m leaving now, but I will be back for dinner. Are you gonna be okay?"

"You need to stop worrying about me, Timothée."

"I will once we are out of this house and somewhere safe, mom. A place where that asshole can´t reach us."

"He is your father, Timothée. Stop talking about him like this."

"He stopped being my father the moment he started beating the shit out of us, mom."

"Your friend is waiting, you should go."

Timothée sighs, aware his mother doesn´t like to talk about this subject and rather pretend nothing is actually happening. He can´t fathom how she manages to do this, but she already goes through too much pain for him not to at least try and do what she asks him.

"I´ll see you tonight." He says before placing a kiss on his mother´s cheek.

"Where do you think you´re going, you little shit?"

Timothée stops by the door, jaw clenched and raging eyes. He takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down before he turns around, his eyes down to the floor.

"I´m going out with Zac."

"I already told you I don´t want you walking around with that..."

Timothée raises his eyes, waiting for his father to finish the sentence, but his mother intervenes before that can be done. She puts on a smile on her face, her hand resting on his father´s chest, keeping him in his place.

"Just let him go, Thomas. Zac is a nice boy and his family have always been very nice to us."

"I don´t like those..."

"Say it, say what you wanna say," Timothée finally snaps, knowing full well what word his father was just about to say. He had never liked Zac or his family, but during his sober years he put up with them because he knew Zac´s father had money.

"Timothée, just go."

He stares at his father for a second, grabs his skate and then heads out of the house, slamming the door shut behind him. Timothée has to do everything he can to seem calm and relaxed as he approaches Zac, who´s sitting at the curb.

"Hey, what took you so long?"

"My dad wanted me to watch the game with him, so I was trying to convince him otherwise."

"You can stay if you want to, dude. My cousin and his friends will be there tomorrow, so there´s no need to rush."

"No it´s okay, I want to do this today."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, let´s just go."

Zac nods and hops on his skate, going down the street with Timothée following. It takes them a good fifteen minutes to go from Timothée´s neighborhood to the beach area, teenagers crowding the pier, the sidewalks and music playing loud. Timothée looks around with a small smile, the fresh air and the different environment bringing some peace to his soul.

They go through a couple more blocks, until Timothée is presented with a large square, the ocean ahead of them, a small and not very well put skate park on their right and on the left, a kilometer long wall filled with some of the most astonishing graffities Timothée had ever seen in his life.

He stops immediately, his green eyes taking in every drawing, every color and every detail he can catch from where he is standing. It all seems so vivid, so realistic and hypnotic. His trance is broken by the sound of a loud laugh that echoes above the music that blasts from the speakers; he blinks and then his eyes wander down the wall, seeing three guys working on a new piece. The loud laugh comes from the tallest one of them, who has his cap backwards, a bandanna wrapped around his neck and a joint in between his lips. He is dancing, clearly imitating the dance rappers do in music videos, while his friends laugh. Timothée watches in silence as he grabs a can, shakes it and then turns back to the wall, a bright blue filling the space that used to be white.

“Hey, you coming?” Zac asks, squeezing his shoulder and bringing him back to reality.

“Yeah, I'm right behind you.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys finally meet.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 4**

  
  


The palm tree casts a shadow on the spot where the boys are sitting, protecting them from the scorching sun. Timothée is leaned against the tree, his green eyes focused on Jake, carefully listening as he ponders about the proposal he just made him. If he is being honest, Timothée was slightly worried about this encounter; not exactly for the proposal, but because he wasn´t sure the guys would be very receptive of him and Zac. They were younger and although he couldn´t actually complain of their status in school, he wasn´t the most popular person around town and definitely wasn´t used to hanging out with the artistic crew. 

But as he sits there quietly, sharing beers and ideas, he realizes everything it´s easier than expected and that this whole thing might come out sooner than he could have ever imagined. Well, at least when it comes to Jake and Mark. Because as off right now, the tall blond guy, who he now knows as the famous Armie, remains on the other side of the street, exactly where he was when he first got there.

Timothée steals a couple of glances, frowns as he can´t seem to shake off the feeling of knowing him from somewhere. Maybe he attended the same school, maybe they live in the same neighborhood; all Timothée knows it that he knows the guy from somewhere and the fact he can´t quite place it where is slowly driving him crazy.

"....long story short, I am in."

Timothée snaps out of his thoughts, his eyes wandering back to Jake with a broad smile on his face. "Are you serious? You guys are in?"

Jake and Mark look at one another, then turn back to Timothée with a nod. "Yeah, we´re in. I´m sure we´re gonna have to work on a schedule, because both Mark and I are working now, but we can make it work. Besides, I used to go to that skate park when I was younger, I have great memories of the time I spent there with my dad."

"Dude, that´s awesome. We can´t really thank you enough for all of this," Zac says as he leans closer to shake hands with Jake. "But what about Armie?"

"Look guys, I doubt Armie would ever say no to the chance of graffiting somewhere, but you´ll have to ask him personally."

Zac turns to look at Timothée, who bites on his lip and scratches the back of his neck. The simple look is enough to let him know Zac wants him to go over there and deal with the whole thing, which he knows it´s the right thing to do since he is the one who had this idea on the first place, but for some reason he is slightly nervous of actually going over there and facing the guy.

"You think it would be okay if I went there to talk to him? He seems quite focused, I don´t want to disturb him."

"Nah, he gets really into the whole thing, but he doesn´t mind people around him. Go on and explain everything to him, I´m sure he will like the idea."

"Okay."

Timothée finishes his beer before actually getting up and crossing the street. The closer he gets, the prettier the colors on the wall seem to be, bold and hypnotic, they seem to force you to look. He rubs his hands on his jeans, realizes just how dry his mouth has gone and sighs. Two of the guys have already accepted to be part of the project, why is he so worried about Armie saying no?

He runs his fingers through his curls and clears his throat, which causes Armie to look over his shoulder. He arches an eyebrow and turns around, getting face to face with Timothée.

"Ummm....hi?"

"Hi, I didn´t mean to disturb you."

"No problem, dude."

Timothée frowns as he stares deeply into Armie´s face, suddenly flashes of Friday´s party filling his head. His eyes widen, he takes a step back and he can only imagine the weird look that has come upon his face, since Armie stares at him with utter confusion.

"Holy shit, you´re the Blowjob Guy."

"I´m sorry?"

"You´re the Blowjob Guy."

"I have absolutely no idea what you´re talking about, dude."

"Friday, we were both at the same party and I happened to walk in on you getting a blowjob on the bathroom."

It only takes Armie a second to register what Timothée has said and he instantly feels his face turn to an expression of pure shame, his cheeks a deep crimson. He sighs, buries his face in his hands and shakes his head. At this point he can´t really imagine a day where he felt more embarrassed than this.

Timothée stares at him for a few seconds, trying his best to keep a straight face, but as much as he tries, he can´t keep himself from bursting out laughing. His holds onto his stomach, tears starting to fill his eyes as he tries to keep himself together on the best way he can.

"I´m sorry, I really am." He says in between laughter as he dries away his tears. "Seriously, I´m sorry I shouldn´t be laughing like this."

"I´m pretty sure you laughed a lot at my expense on the last couple of days."

"Well, only a little bit."

Armie chuckles, nodding his head. "I think I should say sorry?"

"Not, dude, it´s okay."

"No, I do need. I should learn how to lock the door, but you need to understand me, when we´re on that kind of situation we don´t really think much about anything."

"I know the feeling," he says even though that´s a lie. Timothée can count of the fingers of one hand how many girls he has been with and none of them excited him enough for him to completely forget about everything else. "But seriously, there´s no need to apologize because I am sure that I could have seen way worse if I had entered any other room."

"That is true." Armie bites on his lip, stands his hand out and gives Timothée a small, and slightly embarrassed smile. "I´m Armie, by the way."

"I´m Timothée and yes, I am quite aware of who you are. My friend Zac has talked about you a couple of times, he says you are one of the best graffiti artists in the city."

"Wow, that´s some big shoes to fill." He says, but then shrugs, a smirk plastered on his face. "But yeah, I´m pretty good."

Timothée looks at Armie with an arched eyebrow, but he can´t help his amusement at the amount of confidence in Armie´s words.

"Wait, you´re the guy who wanted to propose us some kind of deal, right?"

"Yes, that´s me."

Armie crosses his arms across his chest and gestures with his chin towards Timothée. "So, what is that proposal all about?"

"Do you know the skate park near St. Mark School?" Armie nods, a slightly confused look upon his face. "So, I´ve been going to that place almost my entire life and it´s an incredible skatepark, one of the biggest we have in the city, but lately it has been forgotten by the city and is completely falling apart. A few months ago Zac and I decided that we should do something about it, so I created this project to revitalize the skate park."

"And you want our help with it? That´s the proposal?"

"Well, actually we wanted your help to bring some much needed life and fun to the place, so..."

"So you want us to work on some art on the place."

"Yes, that´s what we were thinking." Armie bites on his lip, nodding his head from side to side as Timothée waits patiently for an answer. "To be quite honest, Jake and Mark have already said yes."

"Well, you can count me in too."

"For real?"

"Timothée, if there´s one thing I never say no to, is the chance to graffiti somewhere....well, that and food."

"Good, because my mom´s sandwiches are the only thing I can pay you with."

Armie chuckles. "I´m okay with that, actually I think it´s a great thing to be done."

"Thanks. People seem to really look up to you, so maybe the fact you are involved in this might help attract some people to help us out."

"I´ll tell everyone I know."

"Thank you."

"Enough with that, when we start working?"

"Well, I still have to go to the city hall and discuss the whole thing, but the moment they give us their approval we will start working. Zac´s dad is gonna help us and we already gathered some of the guys that are around the skatepark to help out too. But you guys are gonna work on the art, so your work will probably happen once things are mostly done."

Armie shrugs, "I don´t mind helping on the heavy work too."

"Good, we´ll need all the help we can get."

Armie smiles, watches as his friend and Zac walk over to them and kneels down on the sidewalk, grabbing the cans of ink and stuffing it inside his backpack.

"So, did our boy wonder agree to help you?" Jake asks as he wraps an arm around Timothée, who nods slowly. "Good, so how about we celebrate our new found partnership at my mother´s diner?"

"I would love that," Zac says as he fixes the strap of his backpack. "I could use some burgers now."

"But it must be packed with people, huh?" Armie questions as he gets up, handling Jake his backpack that was left on the floor. "Maybe we could grab them and head to the beach? We can have some peace over there and no one will complain if we smoke some weed."

"I like this guy," Zac says with a chuckle as Armie shrugs. 

"Okay, then let´s go." Jake turns to Timothée, who kept himself quiet. "You joining us Chalamet?"

"Lead the way."

  
  


**************

 

The waves crash on the shore, the sky a mix of blue and dark orange as the sun starts to set. The beach is mainly quiet, only a couple of people walking through the sand, some surfers on the ocean and the five guys sitting on the lifeguard stand, their sneakers kicked to the side and burger wrappers scattered around as they talk, laugh and share joints.

Timothée is sitting in between Zac and Armie, his green eyes wandering through the older boy´s clothes, which are filled with ink stains. He fiddles with the joint in between his fingers, finding some amusement on how much more laid back Armie´s clothes and attitude seems in comparison to his friends; not that there´s anything wrong with that, actually he finds him much more approachable because of that. 

He feels a nudge on his shoulder and snaps out of his thoughts, his eyes wandering to Armie, who gestures towards the joint. Timothée hands it to him, watches as Armie puts in between his lips and takes a big drag of it, before blowing out some smoke rings. He rolls his eyes, making Armie chuckle as he hands the joint back.

"Have you guys heard about the tv show they are filming here?" All guys turn their attention to Mark, skeptical looks on their faces as Mark looks around and nods his head. "Don´t look at me like this, I´m being serious. My dad heard about it from some girl who works with him at the radio station. Apparently is a show about rich kids from California and they are shooting in different beaches around the area."

"Wouldn´t we have seen something? It´s not very easy to hide all those big ass equipment and I am sure there would be many screaming girls." Timothée says, the joint dangling between his lips as Mark shrugs.

"All I know is what my dad told me, apparently they are staying here until next Wednesday."

"A show about rich kids, who cares about that kind of stuff?"

"Says the rich kid," Jake mocks as he nudges Armie.

"I´m not a rich kid."

"Your grandfather was the owner of an oil company, Armie."

"Yes and he was rich. I´m just a random twenty year old boy who is trying his best to get by with the salary he makes on a very poor record store."

"Yeah right, keep telling yourself that. That money will be yours one day, you know that, right?"

Armie frowns, shaking his head as he steals the joint from Timothée once again. "Can we change the subject, please?"

"Yes, we can actually. I almost forgot to tell you guys, but my parents said yes to my birthday party."

"Are you serious?" Armie and Mark say in unison as they turn to Jake, who nods enthusiastically.

"I am and we need to start working, because I want this party to be the most epic party of the year."

"Jake, is only April, that won´t be that hard."

"For fuck´s sake, Armie."

"What?! Is true."

Jake rolls his eyes, punches Armie on the arm and then leans forward so he can see Timothée and Zac. "You guys are invited to come, okay? We need to get that house filled with people, I want to make sure no one will ever forget about this birthday."

"We can do that."

"I don´t want to hear from you anymore, pretty boy."

"Fuck you, Jake."

"Anyway, we need to start a plan for the party, we only have a week."

"Maybe we can get a band?" Mark asks, leaning his head back on the wall. "That sure would be rad."

"My sweet child," Jake says as he turns to face Mark, a wide smile on his face. "This is one of the best ideas you ever had."

Armie nods, turning to face Timothée and Zac. "And trust me, that doesn´t happen very often."

"He is my cousin, I know it well."

  
  
  


**************

  
  


"Honey, I´m home!" 

Armie shouts as he slams the door close behind him, his bag automatically being tossed to the side. He arches an eyebrow as he gets no response, which is odd since Lois usually answers him with some witty comeback. He then spots Steve on the couch and rolls his eyes, letting out a sigh as he braves himself for another uncomfortable and boring conversation about how amazing the college life is and how intelligent he is.

"Armie, my man!" Steve says with a broad smile as he gets up and rushes to Armie, engulfing him in a tight hug. Armie simply stands there, a few quick pats on Steve´s shoulder as he waits to be released. "How you´re doing, man? It´s been a while since we last saw each other."

_ Thank God for that _ , is all Armie can think as he stares at Steven´s perfectly combed hair and fake tan, paired with the most strange white teeth he has ever seen.

"I´m doing good, Steve. Lots of work at the store and painting a lot."

"You know, Armie, I think it would be great for you to take some administration and economy classes, it could really do wonders for you when you decide to finally sell those paintings."

"I rather stick to the artistic side of this whole thing, Steve." He says with a smile, his hand resting on Steve´s shoulder. "But maybe you could take care of that, right?"

"I would be thrilled. We´re family after all."

Family. Armie can´t even imagine the annoyance it would be if Lois ever got married to this douche and forced them to interact more than they already do.

"Hey, cousin."

"Hey, Lois." 

"I´m gonna cook us something for dinner, do you wanna join us?"

"I´d love to, cousin, but I have some work to do now."

"It´s Sunday night, what kind of work you are gonna do now, Armie?"

"I´m gonna help revitalize the skatepark, okay? And I need to do some research so, might as well start now."

"Wait, you´re gonna do what?"

"Remember I mentioned to you some guys had a proposal to make us?" He watches as she nods, a frown upon her face. "They are revitalizing the skatepark and they want us to help give some much needed color to the place, so I said yes."

"Armie, that´s a great idea."

"I know and I am really excited about," he says with a smile as Lois nods. "Anyway, I really want to do some research. You two have fun."

He waves quickly at then before turning around and heading down the hallway. He locks his bedroom door, kicks off his shoes and nearly throws himself on the swivel chair, grabbing some pencils and papers. He turns on his computer, turns his attention back to the papers on his hand and starts sketching some things, but the ringing of his msn distracts him.

 

**< Alex_1984> ** hey pretty boy

Wanna hang out

Im feeling a bit lonely

 

**< armandoeldestructo> ** would love to 

         but i got some work to do

          maybe some other time?

 

**< Alex_1984> ** maybe i could go there 

   help u release the stress?

    im great at massages

 

**< armandoeldestructo> ** sorry 

        cant do it tonight

  
  


Armie stares into the screen, the writing message blinking away, but he closes the tab before he can see Alex´s response. He turns to another window on the computer, types on google images and tries his best to find some photos of the skatepark for the base of his work. He bites hard on his lip, swirling around on his chair as he gets immersed on the drawings, a smile coming to his face whenever he has a new idea.

  
  


***************

  
  


The only light in the house comes from the television, that casts a blue and gloomy light on the living room. Timothée closes the door behind him slowly, trying not to make too much noise or disturb his mother. He places his bag on the hanger, smiles as he watches his mother flip through the channels, her body sprawled on the couch. He walks over to her, leans down and places a kiss on her forehead, making her smile.

"Where were you, kiddo? I was starting to get worried here."

"I was out with Zac and some new friends. I should have warned that I was going to be home late."

"Not, it´s okay. I am glad you got yourself some new friends, Timmy, you deserve it."

Timothée pulls his mother´s leg to his lap, rubbing her feet as she closes her eyes for a moment and sighs. Timothée always tries his best to give her some comfort, make her smile and feel loved. With everything that she has to go through with his father, Timothée knows these little gestures are extremely important.

"What are you watching."

"I was just going through the channels, actually. But if you want we can watch a movie together, it´s been a while since we got to spend some quality time just the two of us."

"Where is him?"

"Your father left to work just a few minutes ago."

"Work? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. Tony came to pick him up and he was actually sober, so maybe he will get some nice money out of this."

"I highly doubt," he mumbles before getting up. "I´ll go make some popcorn, you choose the movie. Is that okay?"

"Popcorn with butter, please."

"Like always," he says with a chuckle as he rushes to the kitchen. 

He reaches for the bowls, the corn and a pan, wandering around the kitchen to prepare everything. It doesn´t even take five minutes for him to be back at the living room, placing the bowl in between him and his mother, who sits down and leans her head on his shoulder.

"What did you choose?"

"Men in Black II."

"Really?"

"You don´t like this one?"

"I do, but I´m not sure you´ll enjoy it as much as I do, mom."

"Anything that can make me laugh is worth it, Timmy."

Timothée looks down at her, a little smile on his lips but a sad look on his eyes. He needs to make an effort to spend more time at home, help his mother as she goes through all the pain she does, even if that will leave him with a few more bruises. He kisses her hair, wraps an arm around her shoulders and then turns his attention to the television, smiling every time he hears her giggle.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timothée and Armie meet again. (or the one where Timmy sees Armie´s tattoo and stares at it more than he should)

**Venice Ink**

**Part5**

  
  


"...Zac´s father is gonna help us with the equipment necessary and also guide us through the best way to do this."

Timothée´s voice is full of enthusiasm as he sits down at the table, his eyes glued to his mother as he stuffs pieces of toast inside his mouth and takes a few sips of his chocolate. The glow in his eyes is one that hasn´t been around in a long time, but the renovation of the skate park and the help of Armie and his crew sure brought him some new found energy and he plans on making the best out of it.

"Oh honey, I am so glad to see you like this."

"Thanks, mom." He reaches out for her hand, squeezes softly and smiles. "I can´t wait until we start working on it, I´m sure that place will look so rad."

"Maybe you should put all this energy on something that really matters," his father mumbles, his face down as he moves his fork around on the plate.

"Matthew, please."

"What? Your son is going around doing absolutely nothing, always on that damn skate with that other kid, just wasting our money and you want me to shut up?"

"I´m not wasting your money, you don´t have to worry about that."

"Watch out how you talk to me, kid." He gets up, nearly knocking the chair over as his dark eyes stare intensively towards Timothée. "The food you eat comes from my money, so instead of wasting your time renovating that fucking park for free, maybe you should go look for a fucking job and give back all the money I´ve wasted on you the last seventeen years."

Timothée´s whole body quivers when his father gets too close to him, his brain already anticipating the pain that usually follows these outbursts. He remains as quiet as he can, watching from the corner of his eyes as his father stomps away from him and down the hallway. When his mother holds onto his hand, he finally relaxes his body, feeling a tear fall down his cheek; he turns to look at her, tries to put on a smile but finds it nearly impossible to do so.

"Do not listen to him, okay? What you are doing is amazing, Timothée, you´re giving it back to the community and that will be recognized by people."

Timothée remains silent, chewing on his bottom lip as he tries to control any more tears from falling. He closes his eyes, takes a couple of deep breaths and then nods his head slowly, trying to reassure his mother he is okay.

"You are not a burden to us, Timothée, we are not expecting anything in return for the things we do for you. Your father is stressed, he doesn´t mean any of that."

"Stop trying to find excuses for the things he says and does, mom. He´s an asshole and he does mean every single word he said, he thinks I am a burden, because for him I am the reason why he got stuck with you so young. He blames me for everything and we both know that."

"Timothée..."

"Please, don´t."

He gets up, kisses his mother´s forehead and then dries away any tears that are left in his eyes. He grabs his backpack, swings it over his shoulder and then reaches for his skate, keeping it under his arm as he makes it to the door.

"Timothée?"

"Yes, mom."

"I love you, okay?"

He nods, looking at her over his shoulder. "I love you too, mom."

"Good luck at the city hall."

"Thank you."

He walks out of the house as quick as possible, looks around the street and wonders when he will finally make it out of that place. He needs to change, he needs something in his life to change, otherwise he might lose all the hope he still has left.

  


**//now_playing//** **_Alive - Pearl Jam_ **

  
  


****************

  
  


Armie leaves the bedroom with a yawn, scratching his butt as he makes it down the hallway and towards the kitchen. Lois is already there, sitting on the counter as she goes through the newspaper and drinks some coffee. Her dark hair falls down her back in a perfectly done ponytail, her big blue eyes are attentive to whatever she is reading and her manicured nails nearly shine as she wraps her hands around the black mug.

He sits across from her, pours himself some coffee and reaches for the pan with eggs, placing some on his plate along with a slice of bread. He takes a few sips of it, bites down on his bread and then leans back on the backrest; his eyes wander to Lois, a smirk coming to his face as he has an idea that could easily make his -and his friends- life a lot easier.

"You remember when you kept telling me I should be careful whenever I bring a girl over, because the last thing you want is to hear moans or anything?"

Lois´ eyes roam from the newspaper to Armie, her dark red lips pressed together, her eyebrows arched in confusion. "Where are you going with this, Armie?"

"I was wondering why on earth that rule applies only to me." 

"Excuse me?"

"You see, I spent hours doing research for my new project, trying to sketch some drawings and possible ideas, then I gladly go to bed and try to get some sleep, only to be kept awake because you and your boring as fuck boyfriend decided to be a bit too loud."

"Oh my God, please tell me you are joking."

The look on Lois´ face is priceless, her wide eyes and lips curved in a O nearly making Armie burst out laughing. He isn´t actually lying, Steve and her did decide to get a bit frisky on the night before, but it wasn´t as intense as he might have made it sound. It sure didn´t keep him awake at night.

"No, I´m not joking. I thought of knocking on your door and asking you to knock it off, but I didn´t dare getting too close to your bedroom. God knows what I would end up listening."

"Holy shit, that is so damn embarrassing. I´m so sorry, Armie, seriously I don´t know what happened."

"You don´t have to apologize, Lois." He says and she sighs. "You could, however, help me with something."

Lois stares at Armie for a moment, a frown replacing the embarrassed look on her face as she lets her shoulders drop and leans closer to her cousin.

"Are you only saying this so I can be so embarrassed that I will actually do you favors?"

"Never, but you could actually help me with something."

"And that would be?"

"Jake´s birthday is on Saturday and..."

"Nope, I´m not doing anything that involves Jake."

"Oh for fuck´s sake, you guys had a thing like thirty years ago, don´t you think it´s time to move on?"

"He cheated on me, Armie."

"You guys were fifteen, you have another boyfriend now. And only God knows why you care about that man, but you do and Jake is a lot better than he used to be back then."

"Okay, what exactly do you want?"

"Like I said, it´s his birthday on Saturday and we´re organizing a big ass party. We thought of getting a band to play and I just thought that maybe you would volunteer."

"You want me and my band to play at my ex´s birthday party?"

"Think about all the people that will be there, listening to you guys, falling in love with your sound."

"What I see is a bunch of dickheads complaining that it´s a girl´s band playing."

"You guys play better than most of the bands I know from here, boys and girls." Lois sighs as Armie works on his best puppy dog eyes, desperately trying to get his cousin to help him somehow. "C´mon, we´ll give you guys free beer."

"You´ll have to do more than that if you want me to play, Armie. And even if I agree with this, I still have to discuss it with the girls."

"I can talk to them if you want to, I´ll use all of my charm on them."

"You might find it difficult to believe, Armie, but those girls don´t give a fuck about you."

Armie sighs, rolling his eyes as he nods his head. "Fine, we´ll pay a hundred bucks to each one of you. Is that alright?"

"Fine by me, I´ll talk to the girls."

"Thank you."

"It was great doing business with you, cousin." Armie shoots her a look and hops off of the stool, heading over to the bathroom as Lois chuckles. 

  
  


***************

  


Sitting on a bench across from the school building, Timothée has his head back, his eyes stuck on the palm tree just above him. It´s a sunny and warm day, but nothing that comes close to the last few ones; today it seems like he can breath properly and the sweat situation is not even half as bad it was.

His skate is right beside him, his fingers tapping on it as he patiently waits for the bell to ring and school to finish. With a sigh, he looks back down, his eyes now scanning his skate, which is in desperate need of some repairs, although Timothée knows there´s absolutely no way he can actually pay for it right now. 

Asking for his father is a no deal, his mother already gives him enough considering the amount of money she actually has with herself. Maybe if he saves most of his allowance for the whole month, then he might find a way to do so. Or maybe he should actually get himself a job, save money not only for his skate but also to leave this place.

His thoughts drift away when he hears the bell ringing and the distinctive sound of chatter, which echoes on the street as thousands of teenagers walk out of the building. He quickly spots Zac in the crowd, waves at him and gives his friend a small smile as he approaches him.

"I was looking for you during the entire break. Where were you?"

"I made it here late and I wasn´t really in the mood, so I went to the skate park, made some notes about some of the things I think it´s important to speak about and change, then got back here and waited for school to be over."

"So you skipped school twice since Friday. Is everything okay with you?"

"I´m fine, Zac."

"Are you sure?"

_ No, I am not _ . That´s what he should say, that´s what he wants to say, but he still can´t find the guts to do so.

"Yes, I am sure."

"If you say so. Look, my mom told me we should stop by my house, have lunch with her and my dad and then he´ll go with us to the city hall."

"You know I never miss the opportunity to eat your mom´s food. Let´s go."

On their skates, the distance between school and Zac´s house doesn´t take longer than five minutes. The two stories house, painted in white and light yellow on the outside, has a small but nice garden on the front and a little bench on the porch. Since he was little, it was clear to Timothée how much Ms. Thompson loved to take care of her house and always made sure everything looked stunning. 

The inside is cozy, bright and very much like what Timothée always associated with a family. He can´t really complain of his house, he has everything most teenage boys his age has, but the house itself is already so gloomy and the way his family lives only makes it worse.

"Timmy!" Ms. Thompson has her arms wrapped around Timothée seconds after they make it inside the house, her perfectly manicured hands stroking his hair as he hugs her back. "How are you doing? Excited for today?"

"Excited and terrified, all at once."

"You two will do great," the hoarse voice comes from his left and Timothée immediately turns to see Mr. Thompson standing there, a bright smile on his face and a proud look on his eyes as he wraps an arm around Zac´s shoulder. "Zac told me a little bit more about your ideas, Tim, I think it will be easy to get this project accepted. And it will stimulate other people to do the same, help with whatever they can, give back to the community. You two are amazing kids for doing this."

"Thanks, Mr. Thompson."

"C´mon, we can talk more about this while we eat. I made smashed potatoes, because I know you love them."

"You didn´t have to do this, Ms. Thompson."

"Don´t be silly, Timmy." She takes his hand in hers and leads him to the dining room, Zac and his father following close behind. "Sit down, boys, I wanna hear everything about this project of yours."

  
  


**************

  


**//now_playing//** **_We Used To Be Friends - Dandy Warhols_ **

  


The store is empty, music playing loud while Paul works on the back room and Armie sits peacefully on the stool, his head down as he sketches on a random piece of paper. He makes sure to leave little notes on the side of the drawing, guarantee that once he transfers this to a canvas, he will remember some of the colors and shadow work he thought of while doing the first strokes. 

He bites down on his bottom lip as he leans back, his eyes scanning the whole thing to see if there´s anything else he could add or erase. Just a few days ago, Armie was complaining about his lack of inspiration and now it seems like every time he blinks, a new idea comes to his head, whether is for a new canvas or something he could use on the skate park.

He leans back down, his talented fingers drawing thin lines to fix the hair and the eyes, change them from delicate to a more intense stare. He nods at himself with the result, a small smile appearing on the corner of his lips as he taps his foot to the beat of the song.

"This is incredible, Armie." Paul says as Armie looks up at him with a small smile. 

"Thanks, Paul."

"You do remember, though, that drawing is not one of the things that earn you a paycheck, right?"

"There´s absolutely no...," Armie stops talking when he turns around, watching as a curly haired guy stands by one of the stacks of cds. "I´ll be on my way."

"Thank you."

Armie shoots Paul a look, clearly catching the sarcastic tone in his voice and rolls his eyes as the older man shoos him away. He shoves his drawing inside his backpack, hops off of the stool and walks straight into the customer, fixing his shirt and trying to put on a smile.

"May I help you with anything?" The guy jumps a little, surprised by his voice probably, which causes Armie to frown. Once the guy turns around, though, a chuckle escapes him as he realizes who it is. "If it ain´t Mister Fancy Name."

"Blowjob Guy, I didn´t know you worked here."

"You´ve gotta stop calling me like this, because one of these days you´ll do it while there´s people around and it will be embarrassing as hell."

"Oh, I wouldn´t mind telling them the story."

"I would."

Timothée chuckles, nodding his head. "Fine, I promise I won´t be calling you Blowjob Guy anymore."

"Thanks, Mister Fancy Name." Timothée shoots him a look and Armie laughs. "Sorry, Timothée."

"First name basis, that´s better for everyone."

"Alright. So, are you looking for anything in particular? We got some new cds last Friday, some great music."

"I actually was walking around the pier and decided to walk in here. I just came from the city hall, actually."

"Seriously?" Timothée nods enthusiastically. "Well, judging by the look on your face they accepted the project."

"Yes, they did. So you better start thinking on what you´re gonna do on those walls."

"I have million ideas already, dude, you got no idea."

"For real?"

"After I got home last night, I spent hours doing some sketches about it, searching photos of it to have some idea of size and stuff. I´m actually pretty excited for this project, I think it´s gonna be dope."

"It´s nice to see other people are excited about this too. It might make it easier to gather more people to help."

"Of course." Armie leans against the racks, his eyes on Timothée all the time. "Like I said, I´m gonna talk to some friends of mine, explain the whole thing and I am almost certain they will be down to help us."

"Thanks, man. I appreciate."

"No big deal." He pats Timothée´s back and then turns around, going through some of the cds and retrieving one from the rack. "Got this one?"

"I can´t stop listening to it," Timothée says as he takes the cd from Armie´s hand. "I might need to buy a new one soon due to all the times it fell down while I was in the skate, though."

"I can give you a discount."

Timothée chuckles, shaking his head. "I don´t have money to pay you for your work on the skate park, I barely have money to repair my skate. I´m sorry, but you won´t get any commissions from me, buddy."

"It was worth a shot."

Timothée nods, takes a look around the place and then walks towards the wall where a few old vinyls are displayed. He lets his fingers run through them, until he stops by an old Queen one and smiles. His mother used to have one of those, but his father end up breaking on one of his many drunk nights. 

Armie frowns as he looks at Timothée, the expression he has on his face as he stares at the vinyl is intriguing and amusing. Armie walks over to him slowly, trying to not scare the younger boy, who seems lost in his own little world. He stands there beside him, hands inside his pockets as he tries to decipher Timothée´s look.

“How much for these vinyls?” Timothée asks after a while, much to Armie´s surprise. It didn't even seem like he had noticed he was right beside him. “The Queen one, actually.”

“Paul got these vinyls because he wanted to be cool and all, but we barely ever sold any. So now he changed his tactic and it's nearly giving them away to people…”

“How much for the vinyl, Blowjob Guy?”

“Five bucks.”

“I´ll take it.”

Armie turns to look at Timothée, eyebrows frowned in confusion. “Are you serious?”

“What? You don't think I can like Queen?”

“No, that's not what I meant. I love Queen, but I don't know, there's something about the way you were looking at it that tells me there's something deeper involved in this whole thing.”

“It's one of my mom´s favorites, I'm buying for her.”

“Oh, I see.” Armie pats Timothée´s shoulder and then takes the vinyl in his hands, heading to the cashier as Timothée follows close by. He registers it, takes the money and then does his best to make it fit inside one of the plastic bags, earning a few chuckles from Timothée. “It's harder than it looks.”

“I can see.”

Armie rolls his eyes and Timothée laughs, shaking his head as he takes the bag in his hands.

“Hey, pretty boy.” Paul shouts as he approaches them, Timothée´s eyebrows arching at the nickname. “I'm gonna take care of some things here in the front, you can go on your break now.”

“Thanks, Paul.” Paul nods and Armie grabs his backpack, swinging it over his shoulder before he quickly walks over to Timothée. “Hey, you have time?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Do you mind if I show you some of the ideas I had for the skate park?”

“No, not at all.” Armie nods enthusiastically, a bright smile on his face as he gestures to the door. “So...pretty boy?”

“Yeah, another annoying nickname for you to call me.”

“I like Blowjob Guy better, to be honest.”

“Dude, you promised you…”

“But I´ll stick to pretty boy.”

“Thank you,” Armie says, the irony on his voice not lost on Timothée.

  
  


**************

  


Any actual discussion about the skate park project was cut shot the minute Armie showed Timothée his first ideas. The younger boy, completely amazed by his talent, simply smiled and gave him free pass to do exactly what he wanted to do with the space he had. All Timothée really wanted was to bring some color and fun to the place and judging by what he has seen of Armie´s art so far, he would get that anyway.

So what it was supposed to be a little business meeting, end up being two guys who had barely met sitting on the sidewalk, their backs leaned against a palm tree while their feet were buried on the sand. It was nearly four in the afternoon, the sun was still out and bright, but it wasn´t as warm as it was a couple of hours ago and the ocean breeze did made it all a lot more relaxing. So relaxing, that if it wasn´t for the other´s presence and their constant chatter, they would have easily fallen asleep.

"...but Bohemian Rhapsody has got to be my favorite. I absolutely love how it has a little bit of everything in it and you can´t possibly keep yourself quiet when it starts playing."

"I love Bohemian Rhapsody, don´t think there´s anyone who can dislike it, actually. But if I am being completely honest, Under Pressure is my favorite. I don´t know if it´s the lyrics that speaks to me, makes me think about my family history and all, but there´s something about that song that gives me hope at the same time it reminds me of some of the shittiest moments of my life."

"I´m sure the rich boy has nothing but horrible moments living in his beautiful mansion," Timothée says with mockery. When Armie turns to look at him, he kinds of expects to see an annoyed look upon his face or something along this lines, but to his surprise there´s no change at all. "Sorry, I was a jerk for saying this."

"My family is quite privileged and my parents do have a big ass house, but that´s not my reality right now. I live in a small two bedroom house with my cousin, I have my low moments and when I do have a conversation with my mom, it usually ends in an argument.  So yeah, I might be privileged, but still got a family issues like every other person."

The way Armie looks into his eyes as he says those things it´s intimidating, almost as if with one look he can understand exactly what Timothée is going through at home, and this is nearly too much for him. So he nods, shifts slightly and tries to find in his head something he can say or do to quickly change the subject.

Armie is quicker than him though, because before he can even think of something, the older boy is already standing up and taking off his shirt. Timothée frowns, confused by the sudden move so he simply sits there and watches as Armie pull down his cargo shorts and throws them to the side along with his shirt.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I´m gonna swim a little bit, it´s too hot to be sitting here. Wanna join?"

"Umm no, not really."

"Let me guess, you don´t know how to swim."

"Of course I know how to swim, but I´m not really prepared for that. Neither are you..." Timothée trails off, his fingers gesturing to Armie´s clothes. Or the lack of it, to be more precise.

"I´m on my underwear, it´s as good as it gets."

"If you say so."

"So, you really not gonna come?"

"No, I´m fine over here."

"Okay, then you can hold my wallet and my cellphone."

Timothée goes to say something, but once again Armie´s faster, throwing the things on his lap. "Brave of you to trust your wallet to a guy you met twenty four hours ago."

"You have a trustworthy face, Chalamet. So I´ll take my chances."

"That´s...good to know, I guess."

Armie shrugs and then as if consumed by an unstoppable urge to be in the water, he runs down the sand towards the ocean. From his seat under the tree, Timothée keeps his gaze on Armie, the tattoo along his spine catching his attention. He can´t quite comprehend what is it is from the distance he is in, but it looks beautiful nonetheless.

Timothée chuckles as he watches Armie on the water, splashing the nothing, throwing himself backwards, floating and overall just looking like a kid who has seen the ocean for the very first time. He leans his head back on the tree and bites on his lip, a frown on his face as he wonders why on earth he would get so damn transfixed on watching Armie swimming, but even then he can´t stop doing so.

Timothée only looks away when he hears some giggling, his eyes wandering around the beach to try and spot from where it comes from. When he sees the two girls sitting a couple of feet away from him, he realizes it comes from them; their eyes are glued to Armie, while they whisper and giggle to one another. He smirks, wondering if this is the usual approach towards Armie or if this is more of a isolated case. Although he is almost sure is not the latter.

Once Armie finally emerges from the ocean, drops of water running down his body, his briefs clinging to his thighs, Timothée can clearly hear both girls sighing. He chuckles, crosses his arms and watches as they wave at Armie, who gladly waves back, a broad smile on his face.

"You don´t know what you´re missing, dude."

"I´ll take your word for it, don´t worry." Timothée draws back as some drops of water fall down while Armie tries to dry himself off and shakes his head at how laid back the older boy is. "That´s an interesting tattoo you got there."

"Oh, did you like it? I did it myself."

"Excuse me?"

"Not the tattoo itself, just the drawing," Armie says with a chuckle as he sits down next to Timothée. "I´ve always wanted a tattoo, but I wanted something that represented me, or a part of me at least. I made some sketches and came up with this."

"It´s really cool."

"It´s a nice way to start a conversation too," he says with a smirk, to which Timothée rolls his eyes.

"Let me guess, girls see the tattoo and run over to you to ask if you are an artist or something?"

"Yeah, kind of."

"Mr. Artist realized those two girls over there can´t stop staring at you?"

"I did, but sadly I need to go back to work. Paul is quite understanding, but I shouldn´t push his buttons."

"Yeah, I should go too. I promised my mom I would help her with dinner tonight."

"Don´t forget I am waiting for her sandwiches."

"What?" Timothée asks, slightly confused.

"You said yesterday that if you could pay me for the work on the skate park, it would be with her sandwiches. So, I´m waiting."

Timothée chuckles, nods his head and gets up as Armie does the same. "I´ll make sure I remember that, don´t worry."

"Promise," Armie says as he stands his hand out, making Timothée roll his eyes.

"I promise."

They shake hands for a brief moment, their eyes on one another. They look around as a loud thunder reverberates in the sky, their hands dropping to their sides and slightly concerned looks taking over their faces.

"I should definitely get going. I´ll see you around, I guess."

"Well, we´re partners now, so of course you will."

"Partners? Yes, I guess we are." Timothée nods, reaches for his backpack, the vinyl and his skate and then takes one last look at Armie. "See ya."

"See ya." Armie nods in return, grabs his stuff and then slowly walks back to the pier, taking one quick look over his shoulder and seeing as Timothée skates down the pavement, nodding and waving at some people. Armie smiles, not sure why, but he does.

   


   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To anyone who wants to see Armie´s tattoo, just [ click here>](http://www.dubuddha.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Round-Dots-Brushes-Arm-tattoo-by-Aline-Watanabe.jpg)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing says bonding better than breaking the law.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 6**

  
  


The sound of his cell phone vibrating and the sudden brightness that fills the room is what what causes him to open his eyes. Not that he had been asleep, for the past hour Timothée has tossed and turned on his bed, burying his face in the pillows, groaning in frustration and even attempting a very unenthusiastic handjob, which only ended in more frustration.

With a sigh, defeated by his lack of sleep, Timothée reaches for his phone on the nightstand, frowning as he sees Zac is the one messaging him. He thinks of ignoring it, thinking this is him messing around, but then decides to take a quick look.

 

**_< asshole>_ ** _ r u awake? _

_ dude answer me _

_ you cant possibly be asleep already _

**_< liltimmytim>_ ** _ wtf do you want? _

**_< asshole>_ ** _ meet me in front of school in 10 _

**_< liltimmytim>_ ** _ and why on earth would i do that? _

_ its midnight _

**_< asshole>_ ** _ consider it a surprise _

_ just come _

_ bring your skate _

**_< liltimmytim>_ ** _ wtf are you getting us into zac? _

**_< asshole> _ ** _ just trust me _

**_< liltimmytim>_ ** _ and why would i do that when i know nothing about what is going on? _

**_< asshole>_ ** _ fine _

_ dont come then _

_ i will tell the guys you chickened out _

**_< liltimmytim>_ ** _ tell who? _

**_< asshole>_ ** _ mark _

_ jake _

_ armie _

 

Timothée arches an eyebrow at the last message, now even more confused than he already was. It´s pretty odd to have Zac messaging him at this time of night wanting to hang out, it´s even weirder when  Armie and his friends are added to the mix. He stares at the ceiling for a moment, phone resting on his chest as he thinks about the whole situation, curiosity taking the best of him.

 

**_< liltimmytim>_ ** _ i will be there in 5 _

**_< asshole>_ ** _ i knew u would come around _

_ dont forget the skate _

 

Timothée jumps up from the bed, wanders around the room in search for some clothes and puts on the first thing he can find. He puts on his sneakers, stuffs his phone and wallet in his pockets, grabs his skate and tries his best to open the bedroom door without making any noise. Their house is old, everything is always squeaking, so he nearly tiptoes down the hallway to the living room.

"Where do you think you´re going?"

He freezes, a shiver running down his time until he actually processes the fact it´s his mother standing there. He sighs, bites on his lip and slowly turns around, a sweet smile on his face as his mother approaches him, her hands resting on her hips as she usually does when she´s waiting for answers.

"I thought you were asleep already, mom."

"Funny, I thought the exact same about you." Timothée chuckles, nodding his head as he tries to find excuses. "Where are you going, Timothée?"

"Zac texted me, some of our friends are hanging out and he asked if I wanted to join."

"In the middle of the night?"

"I know it sounds shady, mom, but I promise we´ll just sit down and chat a little."

"You have school tomorrow morning."

"I know and I will be there on time, I promise you."

"Please, tell me you´re not getting into any kind of trouble."

"I´m not," Timothée says even though he isn´t exactly sure. Zac only said to meet him in front of school, what will happen after that is a total mystery. "When have I ever got into trouble, mom?"

"You´ll be careful?"

"Yes, I´ll be."

She sighs, cradles Timothée´s face and brings him down so she can kiss his forehead. "Then go, have fun with your friends."

"Thanks, mom. Call me if you need me."

"Go before your father wakes up and sees you leaving."

"Love you, mom." He hugs her quickly, fixes his skate under his arm and then rushes out of the house. The streets are empty, only a few homeless people around, most of them sleeping already. Timothée doesn´t pay much attention, all he can think about right now is what exactly he is getting himself into.

  
  


**************

 

The house is quiet, the television is on but there´s barely any sound. Lying awake in the couch, Lois flips through channels and giggles as she stops by one of those channels that only have ads on it. They try to sell the perfect pan, one who will never burn your food no matter how long it stays on the stove; they also trying to sell miraculous teas that swear that can get you to lose ten pounds in two weeks. All a bunch of crap, but it´s the one thing that actually gives her some kind of amusement late at night.

She shifts on the couch, frowns as she hears movement coming from down the hallway. It seems like Armie is awake, she can clearly hear him walking around the room, fumbling through drawers and the annoying sound of his msn beeping every two seconds. Then suddenly everything goes quiet for a whole minute, only so she can hear his bedroom door opening. Lois doesn´t move, but watches from the corner of her eyes as Armie tiptoes around the house and towards the front door.

"You do know I can hear you, right?"

"Fuck," he mumbles as she sits down on the couch and stares at him with a smirk on her face. "I thought you were sleeping already."

"You know I never fall asleep on the couch, Armie. Especially with the tv on."

"You know what they say, there´s a first time for everything."

"Yes, there is. And I am sure one of these days I will have to step into a police station for the first time, only it will be to pick you up."

"I´m not gonna get arrested for this, Lois."

"You might if anyone catches you guys. You´re not stupid, Armie, you know what you´re doing is a crime."

"We´re careful and we do this like once a month, no one is gonna catch us." Lois sighs, shaking her head as Armie approaches her and kneels down on the floor beside her. "It´s flattering that you worry so much about me, but I can take care of myself and I run really fast."

"Oh my God," she says between laughs. "Only you can make jokes about something like this."

He shrugs. "What else am I gonna do?"

"Go if you really want to, but if you do get caught, I´ll wait at least a whole day to go pick you up."

"I´ll keep that in mind. It will work as fuel for me to run even faster."

"Oh for fuck´s sake, just go."

Armie chuckles, kisses Lois´ temple and then picks up his skateboard. "I´ll see you tomorrow, cousin."

"Luckily not in jail!"

  
  


**************

  
  


The streets are quiet and dark, the five boys seemingly the only people out in the warm night of Venice. They skate down the streets, chuckling, shouting, talking and exploring every single corner they can find, the strangest the better. When they do finally stop, they are in front of a huge hangar, black walls contrasting with the colorful buildings that surround it and a big yellow sign on top that reads Skate Park in capital letters.

While Jake hands his skate to Mark and moves in front of the gate, fumbling for something in his pockets, Timothée looks around the area, a frown on his face as he tries to understand exactly what is going on. Once he looks back at Jake, the guy is already working on the lock while Mark helps him with the flashlight.

"What the fuck are you guys doing?"

"We´re gonna get in," Zac says with the most nonchalant voice he could master.

"We´re doing what?"

"We´re gonna get inside and use the skate park."

"Are you insane? This is a private property, if we get caught we can end up in jail."

"We have been doing this for almost a year now, Tim."

"You´ve done this before?" Timothée asks Zac, who nods. "And you never told me anything?"

"Because I knew this would be your reaction, you always freak out when we do something slightly out of law."

"One, that´s not true. Two, this is not something slightly out of law, Zac, this is breaking in."

Armie chuckles, wraps an arm around Timothée´s shoulders and pulls him close to him. The proximity of them is slightly unnerving for Timothée, their hips are pressed together, their faces mere inches away from one another. 

"No need to get alarmed, Tim. We´re just gonna have some fun and get out before anyone can even imagine we were here."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Look, you don´t have to come in if you don´t want to, okay? I thought it would be nice to invite you over, but now I realize we should have told you what we were doing before hand."

Timothée sighs, his eyes darting from Armie to Jake, who´s still working on the lock. "Is this place as good as people claim to be?"

"Yes, it is."

"Then I suppose it´s my duty to test it and make sure we implement some of their ideas on our skate park." 

"I like the way you think, Chalamet." Armie says as Timothée gives him a look. He chuckles, squeezes Timothée´s shoulder and then steps back, giving one quick look around the are. "Are you nearly done there, Jake? We can´t stay out here for too long."

"Maybe if you guys shut the fuck up I can get this done faster."

Armie rolls his eyes, turning back to his friend. "You´ve done this so many times, you should be a bit more..."

"Did it!" Jake nearly shouts in excitement, only to be shushed by everyone else. "Sorry," he whispers as he pushes the garage door open.

"Fuck, this place is huge."

"Aren´t you happy we made you come?" Armie says with a cheeky smile, pushing Timothée inside. 

They close the door behind them, turn on the lights and take the stairs to the top of the biggest ramp. Jake, Mark and Zac waste no time, they wander around the entire place and soon enough are enjoying every single bowl, ramp and rail they can manage. Leaned against the safety rail, side by side, Timothée and Armie watch their friends, chuckles escaping them every time someone falls or bumps into one another.

"So, you guys come here often?"

"Not as much as we´d like, actually. We gotta make sure we don´t drawn too much attention, so we try to do it once a month. Sometimes we manage to do it more, sometimes we spend the whole month without coming."

"And so far no one has ever seen you guys?"

"If someone has, they kept themselves quiet."

"Who had the idea to break it in on the first place?" Armie doesn´t even open his mouth, he simply turns to look at Timothée, a smirk on his face. "I figured."

"So, I heard you´re an excellent skater. Is that true?"

"I´m okay and that´s pretty much it."

"That doesn´t even come close to the things I have heard about you."

"Who you´ve been talking to? My mom?" Timothée turns to Armie, who laughs. "Honestly though, I´m good and I try my best, but it´s not like I expect much of it."

"Why not? If you´re as good as everyone says, you could try out for competitions, try to at least get some extra money."

Timothée looks at Armie, his words repeating themselves in his head. He had thought about it before, but despite what people keep telling him, he has never thought that his abilities were sufficient for him to actually make some money out of his passion.

"I´ll think about it," is all that he says. "What about you, are you any good?"

"I will proudly tell you that I am a better graffiti artist than a skater, but I don´t fall every two seconds, so I´m happy with that."

"That´s a start."

"Yo, Chalamet!" Jake´s voice echoes in the skate park, causing both Armie and Timothée to turn to him, who stands in the middle of the bowl. "You coming or what?"

"I´m on my way!"

 

*************

  
  


**//now_playing//** **_Cleanin´ Out My Closet - Eminem_ **

 

The music plays loud inside the skate park, the soundproof walls protecting the boys from being heard from the outside. Zac and Mark go against each other in a little trick competition, which mostly results in them falling to the ground. On the meantime Timothée wanders through every single one of the ramps, his shirt blowing with the wind, his curls falling down his forehead as he bends his knees and zigzags on the concrete. 

He takes impulse in one of the vertical ramps, does a flip mid-air and then gracefully lands back on his skate. Without missing a beat, Timothée swiftly slides his foot on the ground, getting more momentum and then launches himself down the bowl, doing a carve and finishing with a kickflip once he is right in the middle of the bowl.

"What a show off."

Armie chuckles, watching as Jake sits down next to him on the edge of the tallest vertical ramp, their feets dangling back and forth. He watches quietly as Timothée sits down for a minute, takes a couple of deep breaths and then gets back up again, skate in hand as he joins Zac and Mark.

"Can you believe he had the audacity to tell me he was just good? This guy should be competing, at least in a state level and yet he is here, spending his time with us. It seems like a waste of talent."

"We could say the same about you."

"What?"

"All those paintings stuck in your garage are a waste of your talent, Armie. You need to finish them, put them out so the world can see. What´s the point in having so much talent if you´re just gonna let those things rot in a dusty garage?"

"Can´t we get back to talking about him?"

"Can you stop trying to change the subject whenever we try to talk about you?"

Armie sighs, reaches for his back pocket and takes a joint and a lighter out. Jake simply sighs, shaking his head as he pull his legs up, leaning his chin on his knees. Armie takes a long drag of the weed, lets out a few smoke rings and then hands the joint to Jake, who takes it in silence.

They remain quiet, the three remaining boys joining them soon enough. While Mark and Zac sit on Jake´s side, fighting off for the joint, Timothée breathlessly sits next to Armie, ripping his shirt off of his waist so he can dry off his sweat with it.

"So, this is you being good at skate?" Armie asks with a smug look on his face. "Because now I´m even more ashamed of the little bit I tried a few minutes ago."

"What? No, you were great. That moment you fell on your butt? That was the highlight of the night," he says in between laughs.

"You really like mocking me, don´t you?"

"Sorry, dude, but so far you´ve made it very easy to."

"Great, another one to piss me off."

Timothée shrugs. "I was fine lying awake in bed, dude, you were the one who decided to invite me."

"Yeah. I´ll think twice before I do that again."

"Yo, Timmy!" Zac shouts from the other end, causing Timothée to lean forward. "Look at Jake´s skate, isn´t this what you wanted to do with yours."

Jake arches an eyebrow, but turns his skate around, showing the art it has on the underneath of the deck. He hands it to Timothée, who gladly takes it and runs his hand through it, eyes wide at how detailed each element of the drawing is.

"Did you do this yourself?"

"No, he did it." He says while pointing to Armie, who bites on his bottom lip while nodding. "He did the art of his and Mark´s too. He also painted our bikes and..."

"Are you pimping me out or something?"

"No, I´m advertising. It´s completely different, especially because I don´t expect to make any money out of it."

"That´s great, since I´m not making any money out of it."

Jake rolls his eyes, pushes Armie back so he can get a better look at Timothée and takes his skate back in his hands. "What I am trying to say here, Timmy, is that if you would like to get something different on your skate, I am sure Armie here would be willing to do so."

"Oh no, it´s okay, seriously. You guys are already helping me with the skatepark project, I´m not gonna ask for anything more."

"C´mon Timmy, you´re not asking for a kidney or anything. If you want I can help you with it."

"Of course he wants," Jakes says before Timothée can even open his mouth. He looks around him, reaches for his backpack and takes a piece of paper and a pen, writing something down on it before handing it to Timothée. "Here´s his msn, add him and then you guys can talk about it. Now, what do you guys think about we get the hell out of here and go over to my mom´s diner? I´m fucking starving and frankly, I could use a huge ass bowl of french fries."

"Are you gonna break into your mom´s diner too?"

Jake smirks while getting up, reaching for a set of keys in his pockets. "Actually, she gave me the keys."

"You have the best parents in the world," Mark says almost annoyed as he pushes himself up. "My mom would never give me the keys to her store and let me get in there in the middle of the night."

"Your mom owns a women clothing store, Mark. Why would you even want to go there?"

"I don´t, but it would be nice to know she is willing to let me in anytime."

Zac frowns his nose, his arm wrapping around his cousin´s shoulder. "That´s slightly creepy, you know. So why don´t we go eat and forget this ever happened?"

"I agree," Jake shouts as he swings his bag over his shoulder and grabs his skate.

Armie sighs, pushes himself up and stretches his arms. He grabs his skate in his hands and looks to the side, watching as Timothée fixes his shoelaces. He bites on his lip when Timothée´s head shots up, looking at him slightly confused, but still with a smile on his lips.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I´m fine." Armie says with a quick nod. "You know, I´m totally okay with helping you with your skate. I will do basically anything for the chance of graffiting and drawing a bit more, so don´t hesitate to message me. We´ll sort something out."

Timothée nods while getting up, the smile on his face a little bigger now. "I´ll do that."


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Party plans, frustration and msn conversations.

**Venice Ink**

**Part7**

 

"Okay, let me get this straight. You asked my ex-girlfriend, who is not exactly my biggest fan, to play at my birthday party? Is that correct?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Are you fucking insane? How much weed did you smoke before doing that?"

"None, actually. I had just woken up when I asked her." Jake groans, burying his face in his hands. "Okay, not the point."

"No, that´s definitely not the point here, Armie."

"Look, you said you wanted a band and I got you one."

"The band is my ex girlfriend´s band, Armie. And I´ll still have to pay for it."

"Well, it´s only fair you do."

"It was your idea, maybe you should be the one paying."

"I will pay half, actually." Jake groans louder, shaking his head as Armie sighs. "Have you found a band, Jake?"

"No, I haven´t."

"Exactly. It´s Wednesday and you haven´t found a band yet, so I´m sorry if I got ahead of things and actually got you a good band, who´s willing to play despite everything."

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" He asks arching his eyebrows as Armie shrugs his shoulders. "C´mon, Armie..."

"Jake, a million things could go wrong on this party, so I say we suck it up and try not to worry too much about this particular bit, okay? Lois got cheated on by you, but years later here she is, willing to play at your birthday. I say things are gonna go well on that front."

"I hope you are right."

"So do I," Armie mumbles as he leans back on his chair and takes a long sip of his soda. "How about food? Have you managed to  work through that?"

"Yes, I wanted something more substantial, so I talked to my mom and she talked to some friends of hers, so we´re gonna have some nice snacks."

"And the booze?"

"Dealt with, my man. That was the first thing I took care of, actually."

"Of course it was. And the guests?"

Jake takes a few french fries into his mouth as he nods. "Sent some texts, some messages through msn and did some calls. Do you know if Timothée and Zac are really coming?"

"I have no idea, bro."

"Haven´t you talked to him?"

"Last time I talked to them was yesterday morning when we were leaving here." Jake nods and Armie arches an eyebrow. "Why you asking me this, anyway?"

"Was just curious."

"Alright." Armie looks at Jake, still slightly confused as his friend shrugs. "Anyway, there´s anything else we need to work on?"

"Just do a selection of music, which you will be handing to Lois later."

"I get it, you and her won´t even need to talk."

"Good."

"You do know the only reason why you two are always bickering is because you still like each other, right?"

"Are you insane?"

Armie shakes his head, a cheeky smile on his face. "I´m one hundred percent sure you two will get back together at some point."

"She´s dating that college guy."

"Steve?" Jack nods as Armie rolls his eyes. "I have a hard time seeing my cool and intelligent cousin staying with that guy for too long, Jake. He is way too boring for her and she must see that."

"She likes him, Armie. It doesn´t matter if he´s boring or fun, when you like someone you just do, doesn´t matter who it is."

"That´s odd."

"What?"

"You getting deep and serious."

"There´s more to me than just a pretty face, Armie." He winks, pats on Armie´s back and then pushes himself up. "Look, I have to go help my mom with some stuff in the backroom, but if you want to stay here and wait until I am out."

"No, don´t worry." Armie gets up too, hands Jake a few dollar bills and then grabs his Discman and phone, shoving them on his pockets. "I think I´m going home, actually. Try to do some painting."

"I´ll see you then, bro." 

Armie nods, does a little handshake with Jake and then heads out of the diner, his blue eyes wandering around the street as he puts his headphones on and hits play on the Discman.

 

**//now_playing//** **_Alive - Pearl Jam_ **

 

He hops on his bike and starts riding it down the pier and eventually to the streets. He keeps a slow pace, appreciating the view and feeling the breeze that comes from the ocean, a quite reinvigorating feel after a whole day of work. It doesn´t take him more than a minute to notice the boy walking a few inches away from him, green plaid shirt -which is easily two sizes too big- on, black Converse shoes and curly hair blowing with the wind. 

Armie chuckles to himself and speeds up a little, joining Timothée on the park in no time. "Quite late for you to be working, huh?"

The voice startles Timothée, who jumps slightly, feeling goosebumps all over his body. For a second he thought his dad had come after him, finish the job he had started back home. He touches his ribs through the shirt, the pain coming back with his scare; he sighs, biting on his lip as he turns to Armie, who has a concerned look upon his face.

"I didn´t mean to scare you, dude."

"It´s okay, I was just distracted."

Armie nods while getting out of his bike and pushing it with him as he follows Timothée into one of the benches. "Are you sure you´re okay?"

"Yes, I just wanted to get some air and decided to come here. I like to sit here and just stare at the skate park, imagine how it will look like once we´re done with it."

"Did you manage to get more people to help?" He asks while sitting next to Timothée on the bench, his eyes scanning the place.

"Some of the other guys that skate here said they will help and promised to get their friends involved too. I´m counting on that and on Zac´s dad, who is really excited to guide us through this whole thing."

"Well, you can count on me. I´m not exactly good with building things and all that crap, but I think I can still do some decent job."

"Thanks, man."

"Oh, Jake was wondering if you and Zac are going to his party on Saturday."

"I´m not really sure. I mean, I bet it will be dope, but I probably won´t know anyone."

"You know me." Timothée turns to look at him and Armie shrugs. "And the birthday boy, which honestly is the only person you actually do need to know."

"I guess that´s right."

"So, you´re coming?"

"Yeah, I´m going."

  
  


************

 

Timothée rolls his eyes, a frustrated sigh escaping him as he tries to shove it all inside the locker. He groans, curses under his breath and does as much force as he can, wincing at pain that radiates from his ribs. He stops for a moment, takes on a couple of deep breaths and then pushes the papers back in again, a little smile creeping on the side of his lips as he finally manages to get everything inside. He slams the door close as fast as he can, a loud fuck escaping him as he jumps back, surprised to see Zac standing there.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"What?"

"You can't just sneak on people like this, Zac. It's fucking terrifying."

"I didn't sneak on you, Tim. I simply leaned here and waited until you were done with this mess you call a locker."

_ My life is messier, you can bet that _ . He thinks as he swings his backpack over his shoulder and nods down the hallway. He reaches for his phone, scrolling through the messages, not really sure of what he expects to see there, but pouts as he doesn't find anything remotely interesting.

"What did you do last night? I sent you a message on your msn, but you never replied."

_ Getting beat up by my drunk father while trying to protect my mom _ , is what he should say, but he simply shrugs and goes for the less disturbing answer.

"I went out to get some air, actually. But I end up running into Armie, so we sat down at the skate park and talked for a while."

"Oh, I see. You and your new bff were out on a date."

Timothée laughs, wrapping an arm around Zac and pulling him closer. "No need to be jealous, Zac, you'll always be my best friend."

"I'm not jealous."

"Right, of course you're not."

Zac rolls his eyes and turns to look at Timothée, but his attempt to say something is interrupted as a beautiful blue-eyed brunette rushes to them, her arms linking with Timothée's.

"Hey, Timmy."

"Hey, Mackenzie."

"You know Jake Phillips, right?"

"Um, yeah I do."

"Oh that's great. You heard he is throwing a party for his twenty-first birthday, right? Me and some of my friends were invited and I was wondering if there's any possibility of you going too?"

Mackenzie is a gorgeous sixteen year old girl Timothée and Zac know since kindergarten, her black hair falls down in perfect waves down her back, her blue eyes are intense and she talks so damn fast sometimes Timothée is scared she is gonna end up choking or losing her breath entirely. 

"Yes, I'm going to the party."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Oh, that's absolutely fantastic." She squeezes Timothée's arms, a bright smile on her face as he nods. "Maybe we could hang out there? Or maybe even go somewhere else together afterwards? I heard about this new place at the pier, they have indie bands every Saturday and people say it's really cool, we could go. What do you think?"

"Yeah, it can be cool."

"It will be awesome." She leans on her tiptoes, places a loud and wet kiss on Timothée's cheek and then quickly runs down the hall and back to her friends. Slightly confused and perhaps even scared by how this whole interaction developed, Timothée sighs, his green eyes wandering to Zac, who's laughing hysterically by now.

"What the fuck just happened?"

"I think you just got yourself on a date with Mackenzie, bro."

"Fuck," he mumbles and now is Zac's turn to wrap an arm around him as they make their way inside their classroom. "Fuck, this can't be happening."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic, Tim. Mackenzie is quite hot and you know damn well she has a crush on you since third grade or something."

"And I always managed to avoid any thing that could possibly look like a date until now. I just fucked up a whole seven year plan and instead of just chilling at the party, I'll actually have to deal with her."

"Oh poor Timmy, he might actually get laid," Zac mocks as he rolls his eyes.

Timothée nearly throws himself on the chair, his forehead resting on the table. "Except I don't want that."

"C'mon Tim, what was the last time you got some? Give the girl a chance, you might surprise yourself."

"I doubt."

"Everybody sit down and open your books on page 50, today we're gonna...."

  
  
  


*************

 

"Good morning," Armie whispers as he looks over his shoulder, watching as Lois grumpily drags herself to the kitchen. She shoots him a look and he chuckles, before turning his attention back to the television and taking a sip of his coffee. A small smile creeps on the corner of his lips as yet another episode of Dismissed starts on MTV, his blue eyes now glued to the television.

"What are you doing up so early, anyway?" Lois asks from the kitchen as she leans on the counter, waiting for her toast. "It´s not even seven."

"I made it home around three, but couldn´t sleep past six, so I decided to get up and make some coffee."

"I thank you for that," she mumbles as she throws herself down on the couch, taking a quick bite of her toast. Her eyes wander to the television, rolling her eyes at the things she sees and hears. "I don´t get how you can watch a show like this, Armie."

"There´s nothing else on, Lois."

"I´m sure if you try you can find something better than Dismissed to watch, dude."

"I´ve tried, there´s absolutely nothing else."

She looks at him over her mug, a cheeky grin on her face. "Just admit it, you actually love this show."

"No, I don´t."

"Yes, you do." Armie rolls his eyes and Lois chuckles, finishing off her breakfast before she gets back up, taking not only hers, but also Armie´s mug to the sink. "What time do you leave for work today?"

"Paul is not opening the store today, so I think I´ll stay in and work on some of the paintings."

"Well, I have work all day and then I´ll meet the girls for a quick rehearsal. Could you, please, try to fix the lamp in my bedside table? Something happened and I can´t turn it on, you might have more luck with it."

"I will give it a try."

"Thanks." Lois finishes off with the dishes, opens the windows and the curtains, smiling as the sun comes inside. "There´s some leftover pasta I made yesterday if you don´t feel like cooking anything."

"Don´t worry about me, cousin, I´ll be alright."

"I know you will."

He smiles over at her and she winks, heading down the hallway. "Oh, have you talked to the girls? Are you really playing on the party?"

"Yes, but they want one hundred and fifty bucks to each one of us."

"That´s a lot of money, Lois."

"Do you happen to have another band willing to play in two days?"

"No, not really."

"Then pay it up, pretty boy."

Armie groans, sliding down on the couch as he hears Lois laugh. He shifts around on the couch, lies on his side and grabs the remote, turning up the volume as a fight starts on the show.

"Oh, this is getting good."

  
  


*************

 

The brush traces down the canvas, bright colors mixing together, creating patterns and optical illusions. With each stroke, a new color is added, a different trace is made in attempt to tell a story, bring emotions to life. Through his own blue eyes, Armie can barely see all the emotion he wants to convey, which makes him feel powerless, confused and utterly spent. Every single person who has come across his paintings has nothing but praise, beautiful words of encouragement that he simply can´t seem to actually let it inside his head.

He hates everything he does and yet he can´t stop doing.

He places the brush down, cleans his hands on a piece of cloth and takes a sit at a stool, biting on his bottom lip as he stares at the canvas one more time. He buries his face in his hands, throws his head back and lets out a guttural scream that fills the entire garage, frustration building up inside of him, his cheeks burning red. 

Armie stares at all the paintings on the garage, over fifty pieces that he will probably never finish; he gets up, starts collecting some of the ones that are already dry and piles them up on the back of the garage, pulling on some sheets on top of it. There´s absolutely no reason to keep staring at those things if all they do is haunt and mock him. 

He has tried his best, for years now he has been trying to finish something and be proud of, but for some reason not even he can understand, when he leaves the streets and finds himself in front of a blank canvas with a brush in hand, things are not the same. The passion is there, the will to do something great also, but there´s something that always stops him.

He reaches for his phone, scrolls through his contact list until he finds Jake´s contact and types in a message, hoping he will get some answer soon enough.

 

**_< hammer>_ ** _ wanna hang out? im super bored here. _

**_< idiot#1>_ ** _ sorry dude _

_     helping mom with some stuff at the diner _

_    wanna come over and help? _

**_< hammer>_ ** _ no offense but work isnt exactly what i had in mind _

_        dont worry tho _

**_< idiot#1>_ ** _ i will call you once i stop here _

_      then we can do something _

**_< hammer>_ ** _ fine by me _

_       see ya dude _

 

Armie rubs the little bit of stubble on his jaw, looks around the garage once more and then scrolls down to Mark´s contact.

 

**_< hammer>_ ** _ what ya doin? _

_        wanna hang out? _

**_< idiot#2>_ ** _ sorry _

_    cant make it _

_   maybe later _

Armie groans and puts his phone back in his pocket before heading out of the garage. He walks straight into the house, stopping by the kitchen to take the pasta out of the fridge and then heads to Lois room. If he can´t hang out with his friends or paint, might as well do some housework.

  
  


*************

 

Timothée walks inside the house with his head down and hands tightly holding onto the straps of his backpack, his shoulders are hunched over, his curls falling down his face. Is getting harder and harder to walk inside that house and put on a smile on his face.

"Timothée," he hears his mother´s voice and looks up, watching as she runs over to him and engulfs him in a tight hug. He remains motionless, only a little wince coming from him as she squeezes him a bit too much. "Where did you go last night? I was so worried when you left, I tried to stay up to wait for you, but I couldn´t."

"I just needed to stay as far away from him as possible."

"Are you okay?"

"If I´m okay? Of course I´m not okay, mom, nothing is okay in this house." He sighs, watches as his mother bites on her lip and steps closer to her, holding onto her shoulders. "We have to leave this place, mom."

"Things are gonna get better, Tim, you have to trust me."

"You can´t possibly believe that, mom. You can´t possibly stand here and tell me you really think things are gonna be alright. He doesn´t care about us, mom, he doesn´t even care about himself otherwise he wouldn´t kill every cell on his brain drowning in booze every fucking night."

"He needs help, Timothée."

"No, he doesn´t. We are the ones who need help, mom. We need to help ourselves before he beats us to death."

"He would never do that."

"Have you looked at yourself in the mirror today? Have you seen the bruise in your cheek? Because I can see it and I can feel the pain in my ribs every time I try to laugh, almost as if he is inside my head, repeatedly saying I will never be happy while he is around."

"Tim..."

"I´m getting so fed up with this shit, mom. I can barely take it anymore and if I am still here is because of you, but I won´t last long, so please listen to me." The tears start falling down his eyes, his chest hurting with all the pain he has inside of him, his breathing labored. He tries to catch a deep breath, wipes away some of the tears and pushes his hair back, his green eyes staring straight into his mother´s. "I thought we could save him too, mom. I thought that eventually he would realize the pain he puts us through, but he doesn´t. You say everything will get better, but it has only gotten worse and I am scared one of these days I will come home from school and you´ll be dead."

"You listen to me, okay? I´m your mother and I will never let anything bad happen to you."

"What about the bad things that happen to you?"

"You let me handle them, like I have always done."

Timothée lets out a sarcastic sigh, knowing his mother is putting on a tough facade but that deep down she knows how deep into this shit they truly are. It won´t be easy to gather their things and walk away, it won´t be easy to make sure his father stays as far away from them as possible, but they have to try eventually and he knows if they don´t do it fast, things are gonna go down a very dangerous road.

"Let me see your ribs," she says reaching for his shirt, but Timothée pulls away. "Timothée let me see it, I wanna take care of you."

"It´s been a while, I´ve learned how to take care of these things on my own." He nods towards his mother, who stares at him with tear filled eyes and then grabs his backpack from the floor, walking past his mother and to his room. 

He slams the door shut, slides down to the ground and buries his face in his hand, letting out a loud scream of frustration and anger. Timothée is one hundred percent aware his mother does not deserve him treating her coldly and that he shouldn´t be mad at her, but he simply can´t help himself sometimes. 

He leans his head back, closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down before he can do anything. After a good three minutes, he finally opens his eyes again and pushes himself up, throwing his backpack and shirt on the bed while he sits on the swivel chair and turns on the computer. He reaches for one of his books, watches as a piece of paper falls to the ground and leans down to pick it up, wincing a little at the pain that comes from his ribs. He unfolds the paper, seeing Armie´s name and msn username there and bites on his lip, his mind running wild.

He fires up msn, waits until the program is fully working and types on the username, watching a small window pop up on the side of the screen. His fingers hover on top of the keyboard, debating on exactly what he should write for a minute, before realizing the simple way is the best way.

 

**_< sixinchesproud_liltimmytim86>_ ** _ armandoeldestructo? that is lame blowjob guy _

**_< armandoeldestructo>_ ** _ as if urs looks any better _

_ six inches proud? r u fucking serious? _

**_< sixinchesproud_liltimmytim86>_ ** _ no one has seem to mind so far  _

**_< armandoeldestructo>_ ** _ as if you have done many times for anyone to complain _

**_< sixinchesproud_liltimmytim86>_ ** _ ouch that hurt _

_..... _

_.... _

_.... _

_ are u still up for helping me with my sk8? _

**_< armandoeldestructo>_ ** _ sure _

_ wanna come over? _

_ im kind of bored here _

**_< sixinchesproud_liltimmy86>_ ** _ r u sure? _

_ dont wanna bother you _

**_< armandoeldestructo>_ ** _ i have called all my friends and none of them can make it _

_ u will be doing me a favor actually _

**_< sixinchesproud_liltimmytim86>_ ** _ oh i see _

_ i am the rebound _

**_< armandoeldestructo>_ ** _ kind of _

**_< sixinchesproud_liltimmytim86> _ ** _ i should feel hurt about this _

_       but my sk8 begs me not to get u annoyed _

**_< armandoeldestructo>_ ** _ ur sk8 is smart _

_.... _

_.... _

_ so u coming? _

**_< sixinchesproud_liltimmytim86>_ ** _ just give me the address and i will be there _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our boys are getting closer and nothing better than an afternoon together to really bring them together, huh? ;)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timothée and Armie spend the day together.

**Venice Ink**

**Part8**

  
  
  


"31, 32, 33, 34..."

His blue eyes are concentrated, his jaw clenched and his voice barely a whisper. There´s a thin layer of sweat coating his body, his bare back glistening as the sunlight hits his skin and his muscles burn with every single movement he makes. The thrill he gets working out will never come close to the one he gets when he wanders the streets at night in search of a new place to paint, but in a day like this one, where nothing seemed to be able to keep his mind occupied, it was the only thing he could resort to do.

The asphalt is raspy and Armie´s hand hurts a bit from the contact, but as he finally reaches forty push-ups, a long and loud sigh escapes him and he nearly throws himself on the hot ground. He pulls himself up with a groan, cleans his hands on his shorts, which are hanging way too low by now, and turns around only to see Timothée standing by the trash can, arms crossed and a frown upon his face.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Scared I´ve been standing here checking you out?"

"That´s not why..."

"Because I was," Timothée says with a serious look. Armie remains his cool composure, but arches his eyebrows, which causes Timothée to laugh. "I´m joking, dude."

"Well, you wouldn´t be the first guy."

"I know I should be surprised by that remark, but considering you are the kind of guy who does works out in the front yard, I guess you like the attention."

Armie shrugs, a smug grin on his face as Timothée rolls his eyes. "I give the people what they want."

"You´re so full of yourself, it´s impressive." Armie shrugs once again and Timothée chuckles. "Anyway, are we going to work on my skate or do I have to do some push-ups too to be welcomed in this house?"

"Oh, I would love to see that," Armie says between laughter.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, your body clearly screams gym rat, Tim."

"Oh, so you´ve been checking me out then, huh?"

Armie sighs, feigning tiredness. "We´re gonna stay here forever."

"Okay, let´s be serious now," Timothée starts, taking a few steps closer to Armie. "Thanks for offering to help with the skate, you really don´t have to do this."

"I´ve said more than once that I am okay with it. Seriously, anything that allows me to draw or paint more is welcomed. I might to have to warn you, I´m not experiencing my most talent day, so excuse me if your skate turns out like a total crap."

"Well, now I´m scared."

Armie chuckles and gestures over to the front door as he turns his back to Timothée, whose eyes can´t help but wander to the tattoo. He isn´t exactly sure if it´s the fact he always wanted one or the simple fact Armie´s tattoo is extremely beautiful, but he can´t help but look at it.

"Let´s get inside, I need a clean shirt and some water."

"I´m right behind you."

Armie leads Timothée inside the house, pours two glasses with water and slides one over the counter to Timothée, who nods as he takes it. He leans against the counter, takes a quick look around the house and smiles a little. For a moment he thought he would be walking in a mansion, with fancy cars and maids walking around ready to do everything for you, but he was pleased to find something a lot more cozy and real.

"Let me guess, you´re wondering where the butler is?"

"Is that so obvious?" Timothée asks with a chuckle.

"Most people who knows I come from a rich family do that, but like I said before, I´m not part of that world anymore."

"So there was a butler at some point?"

"Yes, there was." He shakes his head, a look of annoyance in his face as Timothée laughs and pats his back. "I´m gonna go get some clean clothes, you can sit down or just wander around. Think of this as your own house."

Timothée simply nods, but bites his lip at the mention of thinking of this as his own home. Right now that´s all he doesn´t want to do, he wants to forget about his home, about his father and everything that happened the night before. He watches as Armie disappears into the hallway and sighs, placing the glass down on the sink and then taking a quick look around the kitchen. He stops by the fridge, a smile on the corner of his lips as he sees a picture of Armie, Jake and a brunette girl with big blue eyes; they all seem like they are around ten or twelve and Timothée can only imagine this is the cousin he heard Jake talk about.

"That´s my cousin Lois."

"Yeah, the resemblance is quite amazing."

"Everyone always said we look more alike than me and my brother ever were."

"You have a brother?" Timothée asks, looking over his shoulder.

"On the photo beneath this one."

"This is your brother?" Armie chuckles and Timothée turns around. "Sorry, that sounded a bit harsh."

"It´s okay. I would say is the normal reaction when people see us."

"Are you two close?"

"Kind of."

"And that´s a nice way to say no."

Armie shrugs. "My family is weird and complicated. I love them, but at the same time I know we are better off separate."

"I get it, I know a thing or two about dysfunctional families."

"You do?"

Timothée suddenly freezes as he realizes what he has just said. He never even dared to hint that his family had problems, let alone call it dysfunctional.

"You don´t have to explain anything, you know."

"There´s not much to say, really. But I´ve seen some odd behavior among my relatives, so I know how complicated families can be."

"At least yours is a good one, right?"

"Are we gonna work on the skate or not?"

"Of course. C´mon, let´s go to the garage."

Timothée follows Armie closely, his eyes roaming through the entire house, the yard and the neighborhood before he watches as Armie opens the door to the garage and steps in, turning on all of the lights. The place has colorful walls, easels and blank canvas spread around, paper and all types of paint. He smiles, swirling as he makes sure to catch every single detail his eyes can reach; it´s what he always expected an artist studio to look like.

"So, ready to start?" Armie asks, brushes, stencils and spray cans in his hands.

"Yeah, let´s start."

 

**************

 

**//now_playing//** **_A Place For My Head - Linkin Park_ **

 

Armie´s laugh mixes with the music, his dirty hands doing quick and precise movements, his white shirt now dotted with red paint. The deck of Timothée´s skate was filled with stickers, which caused them to spend nearly half an hour removing it, only so they could then work on the surface and make sure it was ready for Armie to work on it. While Armie worked on that, Timothée flipped through magazines and posters there were scattered through the garage, trying his best to decide on something cool he could add to his skate.

All his attempts were futile and in the end, him and Armie had to stare at the deck for another half hour, tossing random words at each other as they tried to come up with something. In the end, Armie designed a mix of some of Venice Beach´s most amazing places and elements. Timothée was absolutely stunned by how easily it seemed for him to not only put his ideas on paper, but to paint them in a way that seemed to make everything come to life.

"For fuck´s sake, Timmy, you´re gonna ruin the whole thing."

"You told me to hold it like this."

"But it will end up all wrinkled the way you are doing."

"This shit ain´t thin enough to get wrinkled, Armie."

"Okay, so when you fall down your skate, don´t come blaming me."

"Are you always this annoying?"

"Yes, I am."

"For fuck´s sake," Timothée mutters. He turns to face Armie, hands the grip tape over to him and then sits down on the stool, arms crossed and an annoyed look on his face. "Do it yourself."

"Gladly."

Timothée chuckles and shakes his head as he watches Armie place the grip tape on top of the skateboard, carefully working on the center first and then the edges. Armie looks at him from under his eyelashes, a condescending smile on his face that makes Timothée fake a gag.

"Seriously, dude, you´re too full of yourself."

"And thanks to that you´ll have a dope new skate," Armie says with a shrug. "Now hand me that skate tool that´s over the table, please."

"At least you say please," Timothée mumbles as he gets up and reaches for the tool. He hands it over to Armie and then quickly turns back to the table, his eyes scanning some of the work that´s left there unfinished.

There are huge A1 size sheets with drawings and illustrations, some remain half painted, while others only have the pencil trace. He bites on his lip, slightly confused on why there are so many unfinished things, looks over his shoulder at Armie, who´s completely focused on his task and decides not to say anything. 

He can´t stop looking, though, so Timothée keeps on walking around the garage, reading some labels, chuckling at some silly drawings and finally letting his eyes go wide as he pulls the sheet off of one of the canvas. There´s a painting of a young girl in ballet attire, the traces of her face so delicate, the colors behind her so bright and vivid; it´s hard for Timothée to remember the last time he saw something so stunning in front of him.

"I never finish them," Armie´s voice echoes and Timothée turns around, looking at him with an arched eyebrow. "For some reason I never manage to finish my painting, they are all ghosts I have to live with."

"I don´t get it, why wouldn´t you finish them?"

Armie shrugs. "Why don´t you get into competitions?"

"You don´t think you´re good enough? Because this whole place screams otherwise. Besides, there´s a lot of graffities around town that belong to you and they´re all great."

"I don´t know what it is, okay? When I´m out in the street, I can do anything, I feel free and happy. But here is a different kind of art, one I am not sure I fit in."

"That´s bullshit."

There´s a moment of silence, their eyes locked on one another and their breathing slightly altered. Is almost as if the few words they have just exchanged revealed more about themselves than they expected. When the whole thing is just too much, Armie looks down, his hands sliding down the skateboard before he pulls up and dares to look back at Timothée.

"Anyway, your skate is done."

Timothée nods, walking over to Armie and taking the skate in his hands. He looks at the deck, black grip tape written fuck them on top, red and white illustrations on the bottom; it didn´t look this good even when he first bought it.

"I guess I should go, then. Thank you taking your time to do this, I..."

"Are you fucking serious?" Timothée shrugs and Armie sighs, rolling his eyes. "I´m not mad at you for saying what you think, okay? I have heard many times that I need to get my act together and finish this paintings, only most people wait until they know me for more than a week to do so. But kudos to you, you got balls."

Timothée chuckles, rubs his hand in his face and then tries to put on a smile on his face. "I´m sorry, okay? Like you said, I barely know you, it´s not fair that I go around telling you what to do. Especially when I might be doing the same myself."

"You mean entering competitions?"

"Yes and also some other stuff that needs to be done, but that I can´t get myself to do so."

"Is it weird that this conversation got really depressing very easily?"

"Yes, yes it is," Timothée says between laughter. "My mom says this happens when you find someone you´re comfortable with."

"She might be right. I mean, it might be for the fact that we met while I was getting a blow job, but I feel quite at ease around you."

"I can say the same, although I think we should try to forget about this whole blow job thing. Is just too weird."

"What? I thought you loved that."

"But of course, my main hobby is walking in on guys getting blow jobs."

Armie bursts out laughing, his pain covered hand all over his face until he notices what he is doing. He groans and reaches for a cloth, only to realize they are all dirty.

"C´mon, leave the skate here and let´s go get inside. I need to clean up and some food would do well too, don´t you think?"

"I never say no to food."

  
  


**************

 

"Fuck!" Timothée says through gritted teeth, his body shifting around as he squints his eyes and moves closer to the television. 

Armie is laughing beside him, lazily leaned against the couch as his fingers quickly move around the console. He looks at Timothée from the corner of his eyes, smirks and then leans forward too, biting on his lip as he repeatedly hits the button and watches as his player kills Timothée´s.

"Hell yeah! I win, yet once again."

"That´s not fair, you cheated."

"I did not cheat, you´re just really bad at this, Timmy."

"Hell no."

"You lost four times in a roll, dude, this can´t possibly be me cheating. Just deal with the fact you are shitty at this, okay?"

"I won´t accept that, I want a rematch."

"Four times, Timmy, you lost four times. The last one in last than five minutes, may I add."

"Are you scared of losing to me?"

"No, because that´s not gonna happen."

"Then let´s play it again."

"Fucking hell, you don´t give up, do you?" Timothée shakes his head and Armie sighs, resetting the game back to the start. "Okay, we´re gonna do this, but I´m gonna have a beer first."

Timothée shrugs and watches as Armie pushes himself up. With his long legs, he doesn´t need more than five steps to reach the kitchen, which he swiftly wanders through before coming back with two beers and a bag of chips.

"I´ve only got sour cream chips, hope you like these ones."

"I like food, Armie, anything will do."

"Some would argue this is not food."

"And those people would be wrong," he says with a smirk before ripping the package open and taking a handful. "This is food straight from the heavens."

"I agree with you, buddy."

"Okay, start the game."

"You´re shit at this when that´s all you´re doing, now you wanna eat and play at the same time?" Timothée nods and Armie can´t help but chuckle; the look in the younger boy´s eyes of pure determination. "You´re something else, dude."

"Is that supposed to be a good thing?"

"Yeah, of course. I mean in the best way possible, you´re different and that´s revigorating to see, actually."

"What the fuck are you talking about? I´m pretty sure I am just like any other seventeen year old guy."

"No, you´re not. Not every guy your age, or mine, is going around working on a project to renovate a skate park, let alone knowing he won´t get any money for it. I can see you haven´t fall into the tie dye trap, which is also a great thing and you don´t feel the need to straighten out your hair to look like the guys in the bands that are on MTV."

Timothée stares at Armie, slightly confused but also amazed. He didn´t expect to hear any of those things, but the fact Armie did say it and sound so genuine about them, makes him feel weird. A good kind of weird, but still weird. He smiles, shrugs his shoulders and watches as Armie chuckles, probably aware that he doesn´t really know what to say it back.

"Hello." Armie and Timothée look back, finding Lois standing right behind the couch, a small smile on her lips as she looks down at them. "Hi, I´m Lois."

"I´m Timothée."

"Oh, you´re the famous Timothée."

"Famous?"

"Yes, I heard everything about your project and I think it´s brilliant."

"It´s not really, but thank you anyway."

"Lois, what are you doing home? I thought you said you would be out for the whole day."

"It´s almost nine thirty, Armie."

"What?!" Timothée nearly shouts as he shots up to his feet. He takes a quick look at the clock on the kitchen and groans, shaking his head as he reaches for his sneakers. "I didn´t even tell my mom where I was going, I better get going."

"I bought a pizza, don´t you want to stay and eat with us?"

"No no, I´ve already bothered enough for the day. Armie can´t stand my face any longer."

"That´s bullshit, dude. Text your mom and say you´re almost there, she won´t keep you from eating some pizza."

Timothée bites his lip, his eyes wandering from Armie to Lois. He shrugs and reaches for his phone, quickly texting his mom and watching as the reply comes almost immediately. She must be home alone, by this time of the night his father is already heavily drunk somewhere, looking for a hooker he can have his way with.

"C´mon, I brought a pepperoni pizza because our pretty boy here is kind of picky."

"Not, I´m not."

"Oh for fuck´s sake, Armie, just admit it."

Timothée chuckles, follows Armie to the kitchen and takes a seat beside him in one of the stools as Lois sits across from them. She hands him a place, a warm smile on her face as he thanks her.

  
  


***************

 

Timothée closes the door behind him as slowly as he can, desperate not to make any noise. Having pizza with Armie and Lois quickly changed into sitting down for a movie and popcorn and by the time he actually left their house, it was nearly midnight already. He looks around the living room, his father is snoring on the couch, the t.v. on and an empty bottle of vodka on the floor; he stares at him with a mix of sorrow and disgust, trying to understand how he reached this point, but after a moment Timothée looks away, not really in the mood to ruin the awesome afternoon and night he had by thinking about his father and his problems.

He makes his way to his bedroom, locks the door behind him and kicks off his shoes before throwing himself on the bed. His green eyes stare into the ceiling, a small smile creeping on his lips as he realizes just how much fun he had, how easy it was to forget about his problems while he was hanging out with Armie. They have known each other for last than a week and yet, there´s something about the older boy that makes Timothée feel at ease and in some ways freer.

He jumps up, plows himself on the swivel chair and fires up his computer, his fingers impatiently tapping on the table as he waits. He whistles, turns around on the chair and then reaches for his phone, checking some of Zac´s messages before the computer is on and all programs running. He quickly opens his msn, the little arrow hovering on top of Armie´s name as he suddenly debates on whether or not to send him a message.

They just saw each other, wouldn´t that be too soon? Would Armie suddenly find his proximity strange and uncomfortable?

He sighs, biting on his lip as he tries to figure out what is the right protocol here, but before he can get too deep into this, he hears as a new message comes up.

 

**< armandoeldestructo> ** Lois asks if u made it home safely

weird i know

but she is that protective of people

**< sixinchesproud_liltimmytim86>** tell her im good

_ but did she really ask or u just finding excuses to talk to me? _

and thanks for help with the sk8

its really dope

**< armandoeldestructo>** stop saying thanks dude

we´re good

u know when we start working on the skate park?

**< sixinchesproud_liltimmytim86>** monday afternoon

u can join if u want

that is if ur not still hangover from jake´s party

**< armandoeldestructo>** that might be a problem

but i will take one for the team

**< sixinchesproud_liltimmytim86>** nice to know ur committed to the project

**< armandoeldestructo>** when i commit to something i do it right timmy

**< sixinchesproud_liltimmytim86>** if ur saying so

 

Timothée stares into the screen, leaning back into the chair as he waits for a response from Armie. In his face, a wide smile on his lips.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party of the year.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 9**

  
  


The beat of the drums reverberates throughout the entire house, loud cheering and clapping come at the end of each song and people gather around the impromptu stage. On top of it, four girls on the instruments, Lois as the lead singer and guitarist. Her black hair falls down her face as she bangs her head back and forth, her body moving around to the beat of the music and her red lips moving quickly as she goes through the lyrics. She's a natural and everyone can see it.

"She's incredible," Jake practically whispers as he stands beside Armie, cup of beer in hand and eyes so focused on the girl, he is barely blinking. "It's been a while since I heard her sing, but she is truly getting better as the years go by. I mean, she always had a beautiful voice, but now? She's perfect."

Armie looks down at Jake, a smirk plastered in his face as he watches his friend go on and on about his cousin. Not that he didn't know before, but it's become clear now that Jake still has feelings for Lois.

"What?" Jake asks when he finally notices Armie's stare.

"I think you and Lois should sit down and have a long and serious conversation, you know."

"And why would we do that?"

"Because I can tell you two still have feelings for one another, and it's not right that you keep on hiding that because you're both too stubborn to admit it."

"Armie, I thought we had discussed this before. I will always care about Lois, she will always have a special place in my heart, she was my first girlfriend and even if I did fucked up, I loved her. But that was nearly five years ago, we are both different people now and she has a boyfriend."

"Wouldn't hurt if you two still sat down and talked, would it? You say it's been five years and you guys have moved on, so why can you are always avoiding one another?"

"She's playing at my birthday party, Armie. What else do you want from us?"

"This is the biggest interaction you guys had in years, Jake."

Jake sighs, drinks the rest of his beer and then turns to Armie, a hand on his shoulder. "I appreciate the fact you care about us, Armie, but can you please fuck off?"

Armie rolls his eyes and shrugs his shoulders. "Fine, I won't talk about this ever again."

"Thanks." Jake pats his back and then nods towards the door. "Your date is here."

Armie turns around immediately, his eyes quickly landing on Alex as she walks in with her little gang. She spots him right away and nearly runs towards him, her slender arms wrapped around him the moment she reaches him, her lips connected on his only a second later.

Armie stumbles back a little at her eagerness, but lets his arm wrap around her waist as he kisses her back. He feels her hand slide down to his ass, giving it a little squeeze, which makes him chuckle. He pulls away slowly, pulling on her bottom lip as she moans softly and stares at him with her big green eyes.

"Missed me?"

"Always," she answers with a smile. "You've been so quiet lately, I thought you had found yourself someone to replace me.'

"I've been busy with some things, but we can make it up for the wasted time, right?"

"I think that's a terrific idea, actually. Especially because last time we were interrupted by that dude and then my friend got sick...."

The mention of the last time they run into each other instantly makes Armie realize he still hasn't see Timothée around the party. They had talked until three in the morning on the previous night and Timothée confirmed him and Zac would be there, still the party has been going on for nearly three hours and they haven't showed up.

"....would you like that?"

"Huh?" He frowns, realizing he didn't hear a word Alex has said, but nods as quickly as he can. "Yes, of course I'd like that."

"For real?"

"Of course," Armie says with a smile, although he is freaking out in the inside, wondering in exactly what he has gotten himself into. "You want to drink something?"

"Yeah, that would be nice."

"Okay. Stay here and I'll go get us something."

"Okay." Alex pulls him close, pecks his lips and smiles. "Don't take too long."

"I won't."

Armie winks at her, then makes his way through the crowd and heads to the drinking section they created, where people could make their own drinks or grab their beer without any problem. He sighs, reaches for two cups and pours some vodka in one, drinking all in one go before he reaches for more.

"The party has barely started and you're already trying to get shitfaced?"

Armie turns to his side, a smile coming to his lips as he sees Timothée standing there, his curls hidden by a cap.

"That's what one is supposed to do at a party, isn't it?"

"That's what people say, I rather not drink my whole weight in alcohol."

“And once again you prove me you are not like most guys your age."

“Oh but that's my new goal in life, show you all the things that make me such an unique person."

Armie rolls his eyes, shaking his head as Timothée chuckles and nudges him. They turn towards the crowd, backs leaned against the table as they each take a few sips of their drinks. There's a moment of silence, nothing awkward or disconcerting, just natural silence.

"Lois sounds amazing," Timothée finally says, leaning a bit closer to Armie so he can be heard over the loud music.

"She is phenomenal, isn't she? She's been into music since we were kids and her parents always encouraged her to explore that side of her."

"Well, they did a good job."

"They know how to listen, I think that's the key."

Timothée looks up at Armie with an arched eyebrow, the serious tone to his expression easy to see. From the very little information he got regarding Armie and his family, it seems there are some unresolved issues between them. Not really a surprise, every single day it becomes clearer for Timothée that every family has it's skeletons.

"Let me guess, you wish your parents were more like hers?"

"I think that's not exactly a subject for a party."

"Well, you're right. Also, it's none of my business, so even if it wasn't a party, you didn't have to say anything."

"I have no problem telling you, to be honest. But I don't want to put myself down on my best friend's birthday party."

Timothée nods, finishes off his beer and as he is about to say something, hears someone shout his name. He turns around, nearly cursing as he sees Mackenzie running towards him, her arms wrapped around him so tight he can barely breath.

"I was looking for you and Zac said you came to grab a drink. I texted you so we could come together, but I think you didn't see it."

"My phone is not working very well. I'm sorry."

"No need to be worry, we still got the whole night ahead of us. C'mon, I wanna take a closer look at the band."

"Mackenzie, I don't..."

"Oh c'mon, Timmy, it will be super fun."

_ More like extremely awkward _ , he thinks but lets her lead him back to the living room. He takes a quick look over his shoulder and sees Armie laughing at him and giving him both thumbs up. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head, groaning as Mackenzie turns him towards her and wraps her arms around his neck.

 

**************

 

**//now_playing//** **_Tiësto - Flight 643_ **

 

Psychedelic lights seem to dance around the room, bodies move to every direction, loud cheers fill the air and mix with the music. There's drink spilled to the floor and sweat coating people's bodies; some make out on the sofa or against the walls, while others rub themselves against one another on the dance floor. They raise their arms and stomp their feet, take shots like there's no tomorrow, run up the stage and take hold of the mic, taking full opportunity of the band's break to make their best performance.

Jake is jumping up and down in the middle of the room, his black hair is wet and at this point he doesn't even know if it's water, sweat or some type of drink someone spilled on him, but he doesn't stop dancing; his body moves from side to side, he bobs his head and throws his hand up. Mark has his hair tied up in a bun, his face contorting in many different expressions as he lets go and lets the music take him over, without letting one drop of drink spill from his cup. Armie is right beside them, his baggy shorts now halfway down his ass, his shirt disappeared hours ago and he moves around his friends while reproducing some of the most iconic dance moves of the last few years.

"You wanted the most iconic party of the year, my friend," Armie says while wrapping his arm around Jake's shoulder. "I think you got it."

"Let´s drink to that," he raises his glass, smiling as Armie and Mark do the same and then drinks all in one go, letting out a scream afterwards.

  
  


*************

  
  


Timothée squeezes himself through the crowd, desperately trying to find himself a quiet place to stay while simultaneously running away from Mackenzie, who insists they move upstairs to be alone. And as beautiful and hot as Mackenzie is, that's literally the last thing he wants to do right now.

He finally finds refuge in the kitchen, which miraculously is empty, probably because the music isn't that good from there or because there's no booze or food left in there; Timothée doesn't care, all he wants is to sit down and have a glass of water. He walks around the place, feeling bit weird as he goes through the cupboards of a house he has never been in, but he can't deny it's also kind of fun.

There's a lot of supplements there, which he can only assume to be Jake's father since he used to do sports. There's a lot of a fancy silverware and he does his best to stay away from that. And as he could expect in the house of a twenty-one year old guy, lots of cereals.

"Teeeeemy, here you are."

He turns around, arching an eyebrow as he watches Armie walk over to him, leaning against the counter and stealing his glass of water.

"You're welcome."

"Why are you here all alone?"

"I don't know half of these people, Armie. Mackenzie is running after me and won't take a hint, Zac disappeared somewhere with a random girl. Might as well just sit around here and steal some of Jake's cereals."

"He does have an odd amount of cereals, specially for someone his age."

"You're telling me if I go through your cupboards I won't find cereals?"

"You will, if Lois ever moves out and I am allowed to get those kind of stuff inside the house."

"It's her rules then."

"It's her house, she was kind enough to accept me as roommate."

"And you even stole her garage."

Armie nods, handing the empty glass back to Timothée, who rolls his eyes. "As you can tell, I am a great roommate."

"Why are you here?" Timothée asks after a minute of silence. "Last time I saw you it seemed like you were about to swallow that girl."

"Jealous much?" Armie mocks as he pushes himself off of the counter and leans closer to Timothée, pinching his cheek. "I can give you some loving too, Teemy."

"Neither of us are wasted enough for that."

Armie chuckles, nodding his head as he walks over to one of the cupboards and takes a few boxes of cereal out. "But since you asked, Alex has been strangely needy tonight, talking about going on dates and all that crap. Since day one we've decided what we have is just for fun, no strings attached. Seems like she changed her mind and forgot to tell me."

Timothée hops on the counter, listening in silent as Armie goes on and on about Alex, all the while taking all the cereals out of the cupboard and grabbing bowls and spoons too. He arches an eyebrow, lets his eyes follow Armie around the kitchen and chuckles softly as he grabs milk in the fridge.

"Want some cereal?" Armie asks handing a bowl and a spoon to Timothée before he places all the boxes and the milk on the counter and hops on the other end. "Which one should we start?"

"You're really gonna ditch the party to eat cereal?"

"I'm not ditching the party, I can still hear the music. Besides I kept saying you should come and now that you're here and feeling alone, the least I can do is make you some company."

"Okay, then we'll start with Froot Loops," he says with a smile.

"Great choice."

  
  


*************

  
  


It's nearly one in the morning, the house is even more crowded than before, bright neon lights move around the living room, while people dance, jump and shout. The music is loud, the beat of the drums giving the impression everything is shaking.

Jake dances in the middle of the room, a wide smile on his face as he makes silly dance moves with Mark, who laughs. They watch as Zac approaches them, beer bottle in hand and shirtless, like most of the guys -and girls- on the party.

"Zaaaaaaac!!!!" Jake shouts, wrapping his arm around the younger boy. "Didn't I say this would be the best party you've ever been to?"

"Yes, you did."

"And look at this. I did not disappoint, did I?"

"No, you didn't." He looks around, arching an eyebrow as he sees Mackenzie leaned against the staircase, an annoyed look on her face. "Have you guys seen Timmy? I've been looking around for him for a while now."

"I saw him right after you guys got here, but that's about it." Mark says with a slightly altered voice. "Maybe he is upstairs with some chick."

"I doubt it."

"Maybe he left already," Jake says. "But you really shouldn't worry, my friend, Timmy can take care of himself."

"That's true."

"Of course it is, now c'mon let's dance." He drags Zac with him to the front of the stage, both of them cheering as the band starts yet another hit. 

  
  


*************

  
  


Armie and Timothée sit face to face on the kitchen floor, dozen cups of beer spread between them. Timothée has a smirk on his face as he holds a ping pong ball, his eyes attentive on the cups, seriously considering his next move. Armie is quiet, his bottom lip trapped in between his teeth, his blue eyes going from the cups to Timothée. 

After a whole minute of pondering, Timothée finally throws the ball, watching as it successfully lands in yet another cup, some of the content spilling on the floor.

"What the fuck?! Not again," says Armie with a groan as he bangs his head back on the wall. 

"Drink it up, pretty boy." Timothée says with a grin while handing the cup to Armie.

"How come have I drank almost every cup of beer here and you have barely taken a sip?"

"That´s because you´re shit at this, Armie."

"No, I´m not."

"We´re doing this for half an hour, I have drank once."

"You were lucky, that´s it."

"Just drink, will ya?"

Armie rolls his eyes, but takes the cup in his hands and drinks it all in one go, his head spinning a little bit as he finishes. Maybe all this drinking is starting to get the best of him. He takes the ball from Timothée, takes a deep breath and focus on the cups, trying to decide in which one he will try his luck. He leans back a little, rolls the ball on his hand and bites on his lip; he can see the look of annoyance on Timothée´s face, which only makes him take even longer to decide.

"Oh for fuck´s sake, how long will you take to do this?"

"Calm down, Mr. Fancy Name, I´m thinking this one through."

"You´re losing already, Blowjob Guy, just do it."

Armie throws the ball, only to see it fall to the ground once again, earning a loud laugh from Timothée. He shoots him a glare, reaches for the ball once again and then throws it again, a loud fuck escaping his lips as the ball falls near Timothée´s legs.

Timothée bites down on his lip, trying his best to control his laughter and reaches for a cup. "Will I make you feel better if I drink this one?"

"No. I´ll only feel better if I actually get one right."

"Okay, try once again." Timothée says while handing the ball back to Armie, but they are stopped once the door opens. They both turn to the side, eyes locked on Alex, who stands there with a frown upon her face.

"Armie? I´ve been looking for you for hours now."

Armie does his best to push the cups away from Alex´s sight, on his face a look of vulnerability. "I´m so sorry, Alex. I wasn´t feeling very well and decided to come here since it was the only quiet place in this house."

"You were not feeling well? What´s wrong?"

"I think I drank a bit too much," he says while pretending to feel sick, his hands going to his stomach.

"Do you want me to take you home? I can take care of you."

"No, you don´t have to. Your friends are here and you should spend your night having fun, Timmy already offered to take me."

"I did?" Timothée says quietly as Armie throws him a look. "Yes, I did. I walked in here and saw him sitting here on the floor, so I decided to help him out. You don´t have to worry."

"But you should be able to enjoy the party too, right?"

"My friend ditched me and I don´t know anyone here besides Armie, so it´s really not a problem." Timothée gets up quickly, his hand reaching out for Armie and helping him up. He bites on his lip, trying not to laugh as Armie, who was in perfect condition just two minutes ago, now stumbles around and pretends to be nauseous. 

"Maybe you could tell Lois what happened? I don´t want her to be worried." 

"I´ll do that." Alex says as Armie nods slowly. "Are you sure you don´t want my help, Armie?"

"I´ll be alright, Alex. Timmy will take me home, I´ll take a cold shower and everything will be alright. Don´t you worry."

"Text me when you get home, okay?"

"We should go by the back door," Armie says before faking a barf, which causes Alex to step back and cringe. He takes a deep breath, wraps his arm around Timothée´s shoulder, who holds onto his waist, keeping his head down, so Alex won´t see the look of pure amusement on his face.. 

Armie points to the door and throws some of his weight on Timothée, nearly dragging his feet behind him as the younger boy uses all his force to lead him out of the house and over to the backyard.

They walk slowly, Timothée nearly breathless as he drags Armie around the street. He takes a quick look over his shoulder, seeing nothing but the empty street and sighs.

"I think you can stop now, dude. She isn't looking and I don't think I can handle you for too long, you're too big."

"I think you'd handle me just fine, Timmy."

"Does ever joke you make need to have a sexual innuendo?" Timothée asks while rolling his eyes and pushing Armie away from him.

"Sorry, force of habit." Armie chuckles, but then stops, rubbing his eyes as he groans softly. He takes a few deep breaths, shakes his head and then looks over at Timothée, who's looking at him a bit confused. "Oh, don't worry. I'm okay."

"Are you sure? Because you do look a bit pale."

"Nah, I'm totally..." he trails off as he feels his stomach burning, a loud groan escaping him as he runs to the nearest bush and hunches over, a gush of vomit coming out not even a second later.

Timothée takes a few steps back and covers his mouth and nose, while taking a quick look around the street. He hears Armie coughing and finally looks over his shoulder; he has finally stopped vomiting, but he's still hunched over there, hands on his waist and as pale as a ghost.

He walks over to him, takes a hold of the bandanna that's hanging from Armie's back pocket and hands it to him, so he can wipe his mouth. He watches as Armie does so and then sits down on the sidewalk, head in between his legs as he breathes heavily.

"Are you alright?"

"I will be."

"I'll actually have to take you home now, won't I?"

Armie chuckles, wiping away any traces of his sickness before he looks up at Timothée. "I'll just sit here for a while, I'll be alright. You can go home."

"I'm not gonna leave you sick in the middle of the street, Armie. I'll help you get home, but maybe we should get you some water first."

"It's late, everything's closed already and I don't want to get back to the party."

"We're not far from the pier, I think that new club is still open. You can sit there, get some fresh air and I'll buy you some water."

"Seriously, just go home and I will be alright. I've been through this before, some deep breaths and I'm a good."

Timothée rolls his eyes and grabs Armie's arm, pulling him up. He pulls Armie close, their bodies pressed together as Armie wraps an arm around his shoulder and he holds tight onto his waist. To be quite honest, Timothée can't help but feel a bit odd having him so close to him, feeling his body and the warmth that emanates from him; but that is not exactly the problem, the oddness to this is that it doesn't feel weird or awkward, it almost feels too good.

"C'mon, it's just three blocks. You can do this."

"Thank you," Armie whispers, turning to face Timothée, which causes their faces to be only a few inches apart. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you see the bonding? Can you see the sparks flying? XD


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Promises and confessions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick update, because I really like this chapter :)

**Venice Ink**

**Part10**

  
  


The moon is high up in the sky, the pier is empty and the only sound on the beach is the one from the waves that crash on the shore. Sitting alone of the lifeguard stand, Armie chugs down the water in one go, a loud sigh escaping him as he puts the bottle down and leans his head back on the wall. He closes his eyes for a moment, takes long and deep breaths, while he rubs his face; the sickness in his stomach has gotten better, the dizziness he was feeling too, but his head still throbs a little.

He hears footsteps and opens his eyes, watching as Timothée walks up the stand and takes a sit right beside him on the floor. Armie can feel Timothée´s eyes on his and looks to the side, a small and tiring smile on his face. Timothée hands him a joint, arching an eyebrow as he waits for an answer, that comes as a quick head shake.

"I think it´s better if I don´t smoke right now."

"That´s probably for the best," Timothée agrees, taking the joint back in between his lips. "How are you feeling?"

"I´m getting better, but my head is still throbbing a little bit. You can go home if you want to, though, I can make it home just fine."

"I have nothing to do at home, so might as well help make you sure you get home okay."

"Thank you, but you seriously don´t have to do this, Timmy."

"I want to do this, okay?" Timothée says, turning to face Armie, who has his blue eyes locked on him. "What?"

"You don´t have to answer me, because it truly has absolutely nothing to do with me, but it seems like you avoid being home as much as you can."

Timothée bites down hard on the corner of his lip, his green eyes wandering from Armie to the floor, his whole body heating up with the possibility of his secret being outed. He swallows hard, takes the joint in between his fingers and blows out the smoke, all the while trying to figure out what to say to get out of this situation.

"Okay, forget I even said anything. You really don´t have to talk about any of this, okay? It´s not my place to make this kind of questions when we barely even..."

"I have problems with my dad," Timothée blurts out, not really sure where the sudden will to talk about this comes from. "He drinks a bit too much and I hate to be around him when he is like that."

_ That´s enough _ , he thinks. It´s not the whole true, but there is absolutely no reason to go on telling everything right now.

"Shit, I´m so sorry." Armie shakes his head, Timothée looking at him slightly confused. "You have problems with your dad who drinks and here I am, making you take care of me after I drank too much."

"Trust me, you´re nowhere near the stage my father is when he gets home. Also, if I am here helping you is because I want to, so you really don´t have to feel sorry."

Armie remains silent for a moment, his blue eyes wandering around the beach as he tries to find the right words to say in a moment like this. He has his issues with his family, but sometimes he forgets people out there are going through things a lot worse than him.

"Did he try getting some kind of help?"

"He tried once, but he fell off the wagon."

"Look, I´m trying to find the right words to say here, but I´m..."

"You don´t have to say anything, Armie."

"Why do I feel like I should then?"

"Because you´re a good person and you´re trying to help, but seriously, there´s no need to say anything else."

Armie nods, turning to look at Timothée with a smile. "Maybe we should change the subject?"

"I´m okay with that."

"Okay, so tell me why you were running away from that girl."

"Mackenzie?" Armie nods and Timothée sighs, leaning his head back on the wall. "I know her since we were twelve and for a while now she has hinted to be interested in me, but I am not even a little bit attracted to her."

"That´s always a problem."

"Tell me about it. I´ve tried my best to keep things as close to friends as possible with her, but I might have led her to think something could happen during the party tonight. Now I feel bad for leaving her all alone there in the middle of the dance floor, although I didn´t fake being sick to get rid of her."

"Hey, I´m actually sick."

"That´s the universe coming to bite you in the ass, my friend."

"Ha ha ha, very funny." Armie leans closer to Timothée, takes the joint away from him and takes a long drag, blowing out the smoke soon after it.

  
  


**************

 

Their laughs echo in the quiet beach, the sun rising in the horizon, the waves crashing slowly on the shore. Their sneakers have been kicked to the side, their bodies are now sprawled on the wooden floor, the joint is long gone and all there´s left now is a mix of inebriation caused by the weed and the lack of sleep; none of them seem to care though, they keep on talking like their lives depended on this.

"...no one agreed with me, of course, but until this day I see that as me being an entrepreneur."

"Selling Playboys and moisturizer for teenage boys is not being an entrepreneur, Armie."

"Excuse me? I made over a hundred bucks on the first two days."

"How much were you charging those kids?" Timothée asks, turning to the side so he can look at Armie, who shrugs. "You were definitely not an entrepreneur, you were just stealing from those kids."

"Nope, I saw the opportunity and took advantage of it. Teenagers are horny and always in the look out for some kind of porn, I took advantage of that and made some money with it."

"For how much would you sell me one?" Armie looks over at him, arches an eyebrow and bites on his lip, which causes Timothée to frown. "What?"

"I don´t know, dude, but you don´t strike me as the guy who resorts to these kind of material."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You´re more elegant than the rest of us mere mortals, Mr. Fancy Name."

"You have a weird concept of who I am, dude."

"Maybe." He shrugs then puts his arms back, resting his head on it. "C´mon, now it´s your turn."

"My turn to do what?"

"You can´t possibly tell me you have never done anything remotely outrageous on school."

"I´m more elegant than you mere mortals, Blowjob Guy, I don´t do those things."

"Bullshit."

Timothée laughs, his fingers running through his hair and pushing some of his curls back. "Okay, there was this one time where Zac and I were working on a Science Fair project, we obviously decided to build a volcano and the day we tested the eruptions was probably one of the most amazing days of our boring lives. Anyway, we got so excited we decided it would be fun to pull on a prank and work on a big batch of that mix and place it underneath our teacher´s desk."

"What happened?"

"Well, it did what it had to do. But we might have gotten a bit too carried away with the whole thing, because the eruption was so intense the desk kind of flew off."

"I´m sorry?!"

"We were quite lucky the teacher wasn´t sitting at the time."

"I take it back, you´re not as elegant as I expected, Chalamet."

"I told you I wasn´t." 

They go silent for a minute, listening to the waves crashing and the cars in the distance. Timothée yawns, rubs his eyes a little and then shifts on the hard wooden floor, trying to find a more comfortable position for him.

"Getting tired?"

"Well, the sun is rising and I haven´t had any sleep yet, so yeah."

"I told you to go home," Armie says as he turns his face towards Timothée, who takes on a deep breath before turning to face him back.

"And I told you why I didn´t want to go home."

Silence takes them over once more, their breathing and the waves the only audible sound at the moment. Timothée can´t help but let his eyes roam through Armie´s face, taking in every single detail before he stops by his deep blue eyes. Armie, on the other hand, keeps his eyes stuck on Timothée´s, trying to read him, understand him.

"You wanna go grab some breakfast before we head home? I think the dinner is just about to open" Armie says after a while, his voice soft, almost a whisper.

"I don´t have any more money with me."

"I´ll pay," he says as Timothée frowns. "It will be my way of thanking you for the help tonight."

"Do you mean helping you lie to Alex or helping when you actually got sick?"

"Both," Armie says while getting up. "So, you coming or not?"

"I´m gonna order the most expensive thing in the breakfast menu."

"Don´t be greedy, boy."

"I´m not being greedy, I´m seeing an opportunity and taking advantage of it."

Timothée smirks and Armie rolls his eyes, giving Timothée his sneakers and then pushing him down the ramp. "Just stop talking, will you?"

  
  


**************

  
  


"...but you? You have an odd and unhealthy obsession with my name."

Armie shakes his head, his large hands gesturing around as he chews on a mouthful of pancake. Timothée frowns as he watches Armie, who cleans his chin and the corner of his lips with the back of his hand, but doesn´t do much to sweep off the syrup he has all over him.

"Is not an obsession, I´m just curious to know where your fancy name comes from."

"French relatives that I never got the chance to meet."

"See? Fancy indeed."

"There´s absolutely nothing fancy about me or my family, Armie, believe me." Armie shoots him a look, to which Timothée smirks. "What? I am not the one who grew up with butlers, maids and all that crap."

"I did not have butlers, okay? I had some maids, but that´s about it."

"Wow, you only had some maids." Timothée says with mockery, to which Armie chuckles. "My family never even had a cleaning lady that could come once a week, so when it comes to fancy, you win."

"Fine, I admit I did have a very wealthy upbringing, but that was all my parents knew in life. My mom grew up in Orange County, a life filled with excess and then she met my father, who also came from a very rich family. Obviously they tried to fit me and my brother into that world, but it simply didn´t work with me."

"Did it work with your brother?"

"My brother is as preppy as they come, Tim." Timothée chuckles, taking a few bites of his pancake. "But since I was little I knew that I wasn´t made for this type of lifestyle so, the moment they granted me my emancipation, I grabbed my stuff, got the hell out of that house and had a little road trip with Jake across route 66."

"Granted an emancipation and then headed off into a road trip across route 66, we truly do live very different lives." Armie arches an eyebrow, to which Timothée shrugs. "You grew up with maids, you went on a road trip across the country and me? I never left the state and my family is lucky we were able to buy our house earlier on, because I doubt we would be able to pay rent right now."

Armie remains silent for a second or two, his blue eyes stuck on Timothée, who has a small smile on his lips. He bites on his, lets his mind wander through all the thoughts clouding his brain and then leans against the table, a bright smile taking over his face now.

"You´re graduating in a few months, aren´t you?" Timothée nods, slightly confused on why this is relevant to their conversation. "So I promise you we´ll celebrate your graduation by going on a road trip across the country."

"And what makes you think I would like to celebrate my graduation with you?"

"Wow, you hurt me now, Timmy." Armie clutches onto his heart, feigning pain as Timothée laughs. "Here I am, paying for your breakfast, offering you a road trip, trying to be a good friend and this is how you give it back to me?"

"Hey, you´re paying for breakfast because you made me take care of you while you were sick."

"Fine, then I´m just trying to be a good friend."

"Do you even have a car?"

"No, I sold it right after I moved here, because I needed to help Lois with rent and it took me a while to get a job. But Lois does have a car and she wouldn´t mind lending me for a few days...she might even join us." He arches his eyebrows, a smirk upon his face as he stands his hand out for Timothée. "So, do we have a deal?"

"We have a deal."

  
  


**************

  
  


Timothée slowly makes his way inside the house, his eyes wandering through the entire place as he walks down the hallway towards the bedrooms. He stops by his parent´s bedroom, bites on his lips and then gently knocks on the door, hearing a faint sound come from inside; he opens the door slowly, a smile coming to his lips as he sees his mom lying awake in bed, the sheets wrapped around her as she reads a book.

"Hey, I was starting to get worried."

"Sorry, I had to help a friend and end up losing track of time."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, he was sick, so tried to help him as best as I could."

"How was the party?"

He shrugs. "It was cool, but we didn´t stay long."

"But you had fun?"

"I did." He closes the door behind him and walks over to his mom, sitting on the edge of the bed, his hand resting on her leg. "How are you? How did you spend the night?"

"I am okay, Timothée. It´s time for you to stop worrying about me, I am the mother here."

"I will never stop worrying about you mom," he leans down, places a quick and soft kiss on her cheeks and then smiles as he feels her hand on his curls. "I´ll go get some sleep, okay? Call me if you need anything."

"Go rest, baby."

He winks at her and then pushes himself up, walking out of the bedroom. He stops by the door though, lets out a sigh and looks over his shoulder to his mother. "Where is him?"

"He left a couple of minutes ago."

Timothée nods and closes the door, quickly heading over to his bedroom, where he promptly kicks off his shoes and takes off his clothes. He sits down on the computer chair, spins from side to side and then clicks on the icon, watching the program take over the screen. He licks his lips, his heart pounding on his chest as he starts typing; he stops, stares at it, but sends it anyway, a bright smile coming to his face.

He closes the program, turns off the computer and then throws himself on his bed, face buried between the pillows and a sigh escaping him. It takes Timothée a few minutes to actually fall asleep, but once he does, it´s a peaceful and pleasuring one.

  
  


*************

  
  


"Where the hell were you?" Is the first thing Armie hears the moment he closes the front door. With a frown upon his face, he slowly turns around, coming face to face with a clearly distressed Lois, who clings onto her mug and looks at him with a mix of anger and worry. 

"Good morning to you too, cousin."

"Don´t give me that crap, Armie. It was two in the morning when Alex came over to me and told me you were feeling sick and that a friend, one she didn´t even know the name of, was helping you get home. I tried to call you, I sent you a couple of texts and you wouldn´t answer me, but I chose to think you were asleep. So imagine how I was feeling when I got home and realized you were nowhere to be seen? Your bed was exactly the way it was before you left, the garage hasn´t seen anyone in days and once again, you wouldn´t answer you calls. I was worried sick."

"Lois, I´m alright. I got a little sick because I mixed a couple of drinks, but that´s about it."

"And where were you?"

"I left the party because I wasn´t feeling very well, so Timmy helped me get to the beach where I could get some fresh air, some quietness. He bought me some water and then we sat there talking the entire night, we left early this morning and headed for breakfast at the diner."

"You´re telling me you spent the night with Timothée?"

Armie shrugs, hoping on a stool and reaching for the coffee pot. "Technically, yes."

"And you didn´t answer my calls because?"

"To be fair, I didn´t even hear it." Lois nods, her big blue eyes stuck on Armie as she frowns. "What?"

"Nothing."

"I know you my entire life, Lois. This is not your  _ nothing _ face."

"I just..." she trails off, biting on her lip as she debates on whether or not to say anything. "I just find it very interesting that you and this kid are close after knowing one another for a little over a week or something."

"We get along, what´s so interesting about that?"

"Nothing," Lois says as she shakes her head. "You´re right, it just seemed a bit odd to me that out of everyone he would be the one to help you."

"Well, to be fair, we were both hiding and it only felt natural."

"Natural," she mumbles while nodding. "Well, Jake asked you to call him when you have time and you still owe me a hundred bucks from the gig."

"Fine, I´ll pay you later today. Now, I need to go get some sleep." He finishes the coffee, hops off of the stool and drags himself to his bedroom, locking the door behind him. He cleans his bed as best as he can, takes off his shirt and jeans, kicks his sneakers to the side and takes a quick look at the computer, seeing the conversation with Timothée on the screen.

 

**< sixinchesproud_liltimmytim86>** this might sound weird

but i actually wanted to thank u for hanging out with me during the party

also…

well…

can u not tell anyone about my dad

 

Armie smiles, takes a sit down on the chair and stares at the screen for a moment before he can actually decide on what to write.

 

 **< armandoeldestructo>** i told u to go to the party timmy

the least i could do was make u some company

also thank u for helping me out

and about ur dad....

u dont even have to ask

is not my story to tell

so u good

but if u need any help

dont hesitate to call

i might not always know what 2 say

but i might be able to help someway

~~i really enjoyed the night~~  

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone gets together to help rebuild the skate park.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beware of heavy content on this chapter, guys.

**Venice Ink**

**Part11**

  
  
  


Hours seem to pass slowly when you´re waiting for something to happen and Timothée experienced that in the most agonizing way possible that morning. Sitting in class felt like torture when he knew that in a few hours he would be standing in the middle of the skate park, watching as his dream finally came true.

And as he does that right now, he can´t help a broad smile from taking over his face, nor the tingling feeling that comes from his feet all the way to the back of his neck and makes him feel more excited than he has ever been in his entire life. It seems more and more obvious every day that goes by that nothing in the world can make him happier than his skate and this place.

He watches as people he has never seen before in his life join him and his friends to help, give back to the community and hopefully build a better and happier place for children and teenagers to spend their time. 

"Hey, Tim." He turns around, watching as Zac runs over to him. "My dad just dropped the material for the benches."

"Great, then let´s get started." Timothée claps his hands together as Zac chuckles, which makes him arch an eyebrow. "What?"

"I don´t remember when was the last time I saw you this excited about something, Tim."

"Neither do I. I still can´t believe this is actually happening, you know? All those months we spent talking about how it would be to actually put this project to practice, the fear I felt whenever I thought we would never be able to actually do this. It´s kind of crazy to stand here now and see all these people working together to make sure this becomes a reality."

"This is so cool, but if I am being honest with you, I didn´t expect so many people to show up. Also, I never really thought I would ever be part of something like this, which makes it all much more exciting."

"Good, because we will need that excitement to keep us working hard." He wraps an arm around Zac´s shoulder, gestures towards the pile of wood and smiles. "Ready to get started?"

"As ready as I´ll ever be."

Timothée nods and pushes Zac with him to the middle of the skate park, where all the supplies Zac´s father delivered are gathered. They grab a few tools and nails, move over to the benches and start working on it. 

Sure, they barely have any experience on the subject, but they have made sure to do some research on it and Zac´s father was kind enough to teach them almost everything they would need. Also, the idea to revitalize the skate park was not only to get people working, but to trade ideas and create a good atmosphere and this was definitely happening.

People helped each other as much as they could, they worked and laughed, talked and carried heavy cement, wood, tools and paint around. It was obvious to anyone who saw the scene that they were all having fun, even if this was in many ways hard work.

Among laughs, teasing and some actual work, the hours went by without Timothée and Zac even noticing. The sun was about to start setting, the breeze was getting a bit colder, but no one seemed to be ready to stop or leave.

"I need a break, man." Zac says as he reaches for a bottle of water and takes a few gulps from it. He takes a joint out of his pocket and shows it to Timothée, who chuckles and nods his head, following him to a less crowded area.

They lean against one of the old and rather rusty safety rails, light up the joint and take a few drags out of it, the smoke quickly dissipating. They watch as at least a dozen guys approach the skate park, all of them with paper bags in their hand, and arch their eyebrows, slightly confused until they finally recognize three of them. Armie, Jake and Mark, who apparently decided to bring every single guy they know.

"Hello, someone asked for food?" Armie nearly sings as he approaches the guys, who watch as Jake and Mark lead the others towards the people working.

"You guys brought food for everyone?" Timothée asks, his eyes wide as Armie nods. "That´s insane, Armie, you guys didn´t have to do this."

"I know we didn´t have to, but Jake told what we were doing to his mother and she wanted to help us in some way. She obviously can´t do this every single day, but she promises to supply burger and fries whenever she can."

"Dude, that´s absolutely awesome," Zac says as he fist bumps with Armie. "Hey, Lois was desperate after you on Saturday night. Someone told her you were feeling sick and had left with someone and she got really worried about you. You wouldn´t answer your calls or the text she tried to sent you, to be honest we were all starting to get a bit worried."

"Yeah," Armie´s eyes dart towards Timothée for a second before he looks back at Zac. "I mixed a couple of drinks and end up getting a bit sick, but it wasn´t that bad to be honest. I should have told Lois myself I was leaving, instead of letting someone else do it. She got worried for nothing."

"So you´re feeling better now?"

"Oh yeah, I´m feeling great."

"Good to know."

"Hey Zac!" They all turn around, watching as Mark waves his hand. "I´ll go see what he wants. Nice to see you, Armie."

"Nice to see you, dude."

Timothée pats Zac´s back and then watches as he runs over to his cousin before he turns to look at Armie, who´s now leaned against the safety rail too, but on the opposite side.

"Shouldn´t you be working?"

"You keeping track of my schedule now, Timmy?"

"Wouldn´t dare."

"I actually told Paul I had to take the day off today because I wasn´t feeling so good. I might have said I ate something at the party that left me a little nauseous and he agreed that it was better to stay home."

"I have a feeling you always find a way to get people to agree with you."

Armie smirks, "it´s my charming smile."

"Oh okay." He nods and Armie laughs. "Are you really okay?"

"Yeah, lots of water during the whole Sunday and I was brand new."

"Good, then you´re ready to start working."

"I´ll do whatever you tell me to do, boss."

"Rich boy can carry heavy things?" Timothée asks with a smirk as he pushes himself away from the rail. He watches as Armie stands up straight, takes a step around and smirks back.

"Yes, he can."

"Follow me, then."

  
  


**************

  
  


There´s a beautiful orange tone taking over the sky, framing the skate park as the Sun starts going down and people keep on working, moving old lamps to the trash, sweeping off dirty, lifting wood and taking any remains of rain from the bowl.

Armie is by one of the walls, scrapping the old paint and already imagining another million things he can add to make it more lively. His shirt is long gone by now, his golden skin nearly glowing with the sky light and the tattoo on his back attracting curious eyes from nearly everyone who walks past him.

He stops, takes a step back to see just how much work there´s left and cleans his hands on his jeans, letting out a sigh as he feels the sweat drip down his forehead. The park is filled with chatter and laughter, but he can still hear the footsteps approaching and once he turns around, a little smile inevitably appears on his face as he sees Timothée walking his way, two cups of beers in hand.

"Want one?"

"Thanks, man." Armie takes a few gulps of it, the cold liquid helping cool down the temperature. "You really mobilized a lot of people, didn´t you? I didn´t expect this place to be so crowded."

"Neither did I. But every guy and girl we know who comes here often offered to help, they called their friends and family and it seems like everyone is willing to help us, which is great."

"They know you are doing a good job, that´s why they are so willing to help."

"You helped a lot too, all those guys you brought it with you."

"I know some good people."

"It seems like it."

"So, how´s things at your place?" Armie asks after a moment of silence.

"Everything´s okay. Why?"

"Oh nothing, I was just...you know...I was..."

"My father?" Timothée asks before Armie can even find the right words to say. He watches as the older boy nods and bites on his lip, shrugging his shoulders. "Everything´s fine, Armie. I didn´t even see him yesterday and it´s not like he drinks every single day."

That´s a lie, of course, but even if he has told Armie a part of the problem, Timothée isn´t ready to share everything just yet.

"Sorry, I was just...worried, I guess."

"There´s no need for that. I have gotten used to the situation, after all there´s not much I can do do."

"You can encourage him to seek help. I know you said he tried once and end up failing, but this kind of things take time, not everyone gets better on the first try."

"What if the person doesn´t want any help?"

"You think that´s the case with your dad?"

"Honestly, I don´t know what my..."

"ARMIE!"

The shout echoes throughout the entire place and causes both boys to turn to their side, watching as Alex runs over to them with a wide smile on her red lips. Her arms wrap tightly around Armie´s neck and without even giving him time to speak -or breathe-, Alex locks her lips on his, kissing him eagerly. Armie stumbles back a little, the beer on his hand nearly falling to the ground after the sudden attack.

"What are you doing here?" He manages to ask once she finally pulls away from him.

"I stopped by your place and Lois told me you were here. I didn´t really know this place, but thought it was worth the shot coming here to see you."

"Why?"

"Because I was worried about you. You seemed pretty bad on Saturday when you left the party and since you haven´t answered any of my messages, I thought I should check on you personally."

"I´m perfectly fine now, there´s no need to worry."

"Good, because I thought we could do something tonight." She says with a wink as Armie silently nods, his eyes quickly wandering towards Timothée, who stands there quietly. Alex arches an eyebrow, turns around, clearly only now noticing there´s someone else standing there. "Oh hi. You´re Timothée, right?"

"Right." He says with a nod, before his eyes turn back to Armie, a small smile on the corner of his lips. "I should go back and help Zac."

"We´ll talk more later."

Armie´s words are more of reassurance than anything else, although he isn´t sure if they are meant to reassure him or Timothée...maybe both even. Silently, Armie watches as Timothée nods and turns on his heels, quickly walking back towards Zac. He bites on his lip, his blue eyes stuck on Timothée until Alex actually pulls his face back towards her.

"....you doing here."

"Huh?"

"I asked what exactly you´re doing here."

"Oh yeah, we´re repairing the skate park."

"Why?"

"Because it´s a nice to thing to do, Alex." She nods and he sighs, reaching for another scrapping tool and handing it her. "Wanna help?"

  
  
  


*************

  
  


The street lights cast gloomy shadows on the boys as they skate down the streets of Zac´s neighborhood, grinding on the curb and doing flips. They laugh each time one of them trips over their own feet or nearly bumps into a post or trash can, is the only sound heard as they go through beautiful houses with large and colorful gardens. 

Just down the street, Zac´s place has always seemed to Timothée the most fun and welcoming house in the entire neighborhood; the light colors, the simple and yet organized and well taken care garden, the little tinkling lights that Mrs. Thompson has on the porch, everything seemed so cozy and inviting. It was no surprise that Timothée always felt relaxed and at home at his friend´s place, despite the fact the neighborhood itself sometimes made him feel like an outcast.

They walk inside the house to find all the lights on and music coming from the kitchen. Zac takes his skate and Timothée´s, places it on the corner, behind the hanger and then pushes Timothée with him towards the kitchen, where his parents are. 

Timothée can´t help but smile at the scene, Zac´s parents are standing by the counter, chopping some vegetables while they sing and playfully nudge one another. He leans against the threshold, his hands behind his back as he watches Zac approach his parents, hugging and kissing them. He can´t really remember the last time his family had happy moments like this, everything fun and enjoyable that happens in his house is so ephemeral, he can barely appreciate the way he should.

"Timmy, I´m glad you agree to join us for dinner."

"I never say no to your food, Mrs. Thompson."

"I´m glad to hear that." She says with a bright smile on her face; she turns to Zac, nodding towards the fridge. "There´s some sodas on the fridge if you boys want to drink anything. Dinner will be done in about ten minutes."

"We´ll be upstairs, play some video games. Okay?"

"It´s okay, son."

Zac smiles, kisses his mom´s cheek quickly and then nearly runs out of the kitchen, taking Timothée with him. They run up the stairs and straight to Zac´s bedroom, throwing themselves on the large pillows on the floor. Timothée leans back against the bed, his eyes darting to the ceiling as he waits for Zac to prepare everything. He is tired, his arms and legs hurt, but he couldn´t be happier at how smoothly everything seemed to go at the skate park. Hopefully all days would be like today and so it wouldn´t take them too long to get everything done.

"...but she´s hot."

"Huh?" He asks a bit confused, looking over at Zac, who throws a console towards him. "Who´s hot?"

"Armie´s girlfriend."

"She´s not his girlfriend."

"Are you sure? ´Cause she was all over his the whole afternoon."

"He faked being sick to get away from her, so even if they are actually dating, I have a feeling he is not very into her."

"You should know."

Timothée arches an eyebrow, turning to look at Zac, who has his eyes stuck on the television. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Judging by the amount of time you two have spent together, if anyone knows about his relationship status is you."

"What? Are you suddenly jealous that I have other friends besides you?"

"No, I´m not."

"Yes, you are." Timothée says between chuckles as Zac turns to him rolling his eyes. "You´re actually jealous of me and Armie hanging out."

"The guy is a master of graffiti, he is cool and leaves all the girls going crazy about him. You really think him being friends with you would leave me jealous?"

"Yes, because you are."

"Don´t be so full of yourself, boy." Zac nudges Timothée, who chuckles and turns back to the television. 

Soon enough they are completely focused on the game they are playing, concentrated looks upon their faces as they each try their best to beat the other one. Zac chuckles as he wins yet again, hearing a frustrated sigh escape Timothée, who throws the console to the ground and just sinks deeper in the pillows.

"When will you accept the fact you suck at this, Tim?"

"Fuck off, okay."

"If you want I can give you a few classes, I´m sure you will get better."

"Shut up or I´m gonna kick your ass."

"I´d like to see you try."

"Don´t..." Timothée stops as the door opens and they both turn to look at it, watching as Zac´s dad pokes his head in and smiles at them.

"Dinner is ready, boys."

"We´ll be there in a second, dad."

"Come quick or I might eat it all myself."

"He´s not even lying," Zac says as Timothée chuckles.

  
  


**************

  
  


"Good morning," Armie says in between yawns as he drags himself through the house and hops on a stool.

"Good morning." Lois frowns, her blue eyes scanning every single movement Armie makes, until he actually looks her way.

"What?"

"Why are you up so early?"

"I wake up late, she complains; if I wake up early, she complains. Can I ever win?"

"I´m not complaining, I´m just wondering. It´s quite early, even for a working day, so you must admit I have a reason to be confused."

"I couldn´t sleep, actually."

"That seems to be happening a lot lately, huh?"

"A few times, but I doubt is anything serious."

"You sure? Aren´t you worried about anything or stressed out?"

"Stressed with what? I work in a record store in front of the beach, a place I can spend hours sitting and doing absolutely nothing other than drawing. I got a good house and great friends, I go out to graffiti almost every single night; I´m living my best life, actually"

"Your girlfriend then?"

"She´s not my girlfriend, although lately she has been a bit more clingy than she used to be."

"It can be that."

"I´ve been through the whole dumping someone thing before, Lois, I don´t remember being worried about it."

"People change, Armie."

"Just give me coffee and shut up, will ya?" Lois shoots him a look and he sighs, shaking his head. "Sorry, I´m just grumpy."

"I can see that."

Armie lets out a soft chuckle, closes his eyes and rubs his face. There´s so many things inside his head at this moment, so many things he needs to talk about and understand it better himself, but still, he doesn´t even know where to start.

"You´re right, you know?" He says, looking up at Lois. "There´s this thing that is worrying me right now and I am not even sure if I should be worried about it."

"What is it?"

"Is something with a friend of mine."

"Everything okay with Jake and Mark?"

"Yeah, it´s someone else."

"Who?"

"I can´t say it." She arches an eyebrow and Armie sighs. "He asked me not to say anything and to be quite honest, I´m not even sure I know the whole story. What I do know is that a part of me thinks I should just keep it cool, while another part thinks something bad might happen."

"Have you thought of talking to that friend of yours?"

"I don´t think he likes talking about this particular subject and I don´t want to push him into saying things he doesn´t feel ready to."

"Well, good news is you are a good friend. Bad news is, you might have this feeling for a while if you don´t ask and he isn´t ready to talk, but I have a feeling Timmy will come around soon."

"I didn´t say it was Timmy."

"Armie, you know a lot of people, but you don´t have many friends and you seem to be quite close to Timmy lately, so is not that hard to figure out."

Armie smiles, nodding his head. "So should I just keep it cool?"

"Like you said, if he´s not ready to talk then there´s no reason to push him. Just let him know you´re there for him, that´s what truly matters."

"Thank you, even though you didn´t pour me some coffee yet."

Lois rolls her eyes, pushing the coffee pot in his direction. "Do it yourself, pretty boy."

 

***************

  
  
  


There´s a mix of sounds that take over the house, the television that no one is watching, the water running on the kitchen and the voices of Timothée and his mother, who sit down across from each other on the dining table; they have finished lunch a while ago, but the plates remain in place while Timothée gushes about everything that happened the previous afternoon at the skatepark. 

Eleanor, with a wide and beaming smile on her face, listens carefully to everything her son says; his enthusiastic voice, his sparkling eyes, the little blush on his face as he talks fast and barely breaths. It has been years since anything has left Timothée this happy and excited, so it truly warms her heart to see him like this.

"...that´s amazing, Timmy."

"It was really was, mom. I couldn´t expect so many people to join us, people I have never seen in my life but that were eager to help, to make a difference. It was insane."

"I´m so proud of you, baby." Eleanor says as she reaches out for Timothée, taking his hand in hers. They hear a scoff coming from Matthew, who approaches them with a disdain look upon his face, his eyes red and the smell of booze already pretty obvious. "Matthew, please."

"What are you proud of? Of watching your son waste his life hanging out with a bunch of lowlifes? That´s what makes you proud? Because to me, it sounds like he is an idiot."

Timothée looks at his father for a second, bites down on his lip and shakes his head. He takes a deep breath, trying his best to control the anger that builds up inside of him more and more each day and reaches for his backpack on the floor, stuffing his things back inside before getting up. He and Zac had decided to meet up in front of school after lunch so they could go to the skate park and he was not about to let his father ruin his mood.

"He is doing something good, Matthew. Giving back to the community."

"What community? The rich kids who don´t give a fuck about him or any of us? Don´t fool yourself, woman, your son is just a waste of breath, he has always been."

"I´m your son, too."

"Excuse me?" Matthew turns to Timothée, his voice loud and threatening. Timothée has his jaw clenched, his green eyes staring right back at his father, something he hasn´t had the courage to do in years. "What did you say?"

"Timmy, don´t..."

"Shut the fuck up!" Matthew´s screams sounds like a thunder reverberating throughout the entire house, making everything tremble.

"I´m not scared of you, your screams won´t stop me."

"You think a little bit too much of yourself, don´t you boy? Going around with that black boy everywhere, wasting my money, wasting your life on top of that shitty skate, working for free for a so called community, who truly doesn´t give a fuck about you. You´re stupid, that´s what you are."

"Not as much as you. What I´m doing is something good, I´m helping bring back to life a place that so many people love and care about. I´m doing a lot more than you ever did with your life, because all you´re actually good at is getting drunk."

"Who do you think you´re talking to, boy?" Matthew takes a step closer to Timothée, who remains in place despite the fear that starts to build in the pit of his stomach. Eleanor tries to take a hold of her husband, who simply pushes her back, his anger red eyes locked on Timothée.

"I´m talking with a nobody, a man who has no self respect and no..."

He stops the second his father´s fist comes in contact with his face. He stumbles back, the pain radiating through his entire face and tears filling his eyes. Timothée blinks a couple of times, takes a deep breath, looks back at his father and smirks. 

The adrenaline of finally standing up to his father after years of being scared and feeling powerless clouding his better judgment. He sees his mother standing behind his father, her teary eyes pleading him to stop, to turn around and go to his room and wait for things to calm down, but he can´t do that, not now. He needs to at least try to let it out all that he´s got inside of him for so long.

"You´re a fucking coward, that´s who you truly are." Timothée manages to say, although his whole face hurts. "You´re always calling me a piece of shit, but maybe I´ve learned from you, because that´s all that you are. A coward, a piece of shit, a fucking asshole that no one gives a damn about and has to..."

Matthew doesn´t let him finish, his fist comes in contact with Timothée´s face once again, this time a lot harder and with a lot more anger than he has ever done. Timothée falls back immediately, his body hitting the ground with a loud thud and a ringing in his ear that for a minute keeps him from hearing anything else.

He is dazed, his entire body aches, his vision is clouded and as he coughs, Timothée can taste the blood that fills his mouth and drips from the corner of his lips. He blinks a couple of times, tries to push himself up, but his arms give out just as an indescribable pain hits his stomach and his mother screams on the distance. He coughs again, more blood dripping from his mouth as his eyes get heavier.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armie can´t help but feel something is wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you´re all worried about Timmy, so hopefully this can bring some hope to you all.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 12**

  
  
  


**//now_playing//** _By The Way - Red Hot Chilli Peppers_

 

Armie is sitting down on the armchair, his eyes down to the stack of papers in his lap as he does a few sketches, trying to find some kind of inspiration. He looks down at the drawings with a frown, his blue eyes trying to find something good in the middle of all the mess.

"Fuck," he cusses as he throws the papers to the side and leans his head back down on the chair, his eyes wandering to the ceiling. It has been a strange day to the say the least, since waking up he has this weird feeling inside of him, then he found himself getting easily stressed during work and even inspiration seems to have completely disappeared from him.

He pushes himself up, heads to the register, takes one of the boxes that are piled up behind the counter and places on top of it. He goes through a few of the records there before starting to catalogue them on the computer, which starts freezing halfway through the job and Armie has to take one long and deep breath not to throw the thing to the floor.

His phone starts ringing before he can do anything he would regret though and Armie quickly fishes for it on his back pocket, biting on his lip as his mother´s number is displayed there. His day is already going in a very weird direction, so it´s only fair his mother is part of it somehow.

"Hey, mom."

"Can´t believe you actually answered me." The words she uses actually impact Armie more than he could have expected, which causes him to sigh. Sometimes he forgets about all the good moments he and his mother actually shared and neglects her more than he should. "I promise you I won´t take much of your time, I just wanted to know how you´re doing."

"I´m doing fine, mom. How about you guys? I haven´t talked to Viktor in a while."

"Viktor got himself a new girlfriend and is never home, while your dad is working like crazy in the office."

"What about you?"

"Me? I´m doing fine, sweetie."

"Just fine?"

"I´m an old lady, Armie, nothing exciting happens in my life anymore. Fine is as good as it gets, actually."

Armie frowns, despite her cheerful voice is easy for him to notice that something isn´t quite right with his mother. He also knows she won´t tell him what it is, she never does and it would be too much to expect her to open up after so long without them seeing or even talking to each other.

"That´s great, mom." He lies, pretending to believe her. "Dad invited me to go to a baseball game next week, are you joining us?"

"Oh no, I´m going to a spa with your aunt."

"That sounds cool."

A soft chuckle escapes her and Armie can´t help but smile. "It does? I thought you kids hated this kind of stuff."

"I can see the appeal."

"Maybe you could come home after the game? I promise you I won´t ask you to stay or anything, I just want us to spend some time together, Armie, it´s been too long."

"I really want to see you guys, mom, but if I go there you have to promise me there won´t be..."

"I won´t open my mouth unless someone speaks with me." He chuckles and hears her sigh on the distance. "Armie, you´re my son and I love and care about you more than anything in the world. I know I have said things that upset you, I know I have been a bit authoritarian at times, but I am trying my best to understand and accept your life choices."

"Okay, I´ll go have dinner there after the game."

"Really?"

"Really." Armie says with a smile as he hears the cheerful giggle that escapes his mother. "Thanks for calling, mom, you actually made my day a bit better."

"Well, there´s something I haven´t heard in years."

"Sorry if I am not the son you expected, mom. But I love you, okay? I really do."

"Love you too, son."

"I have to go now, okay? Got some work to do." He smiles as she says her goodbyes, hangs up the phone and sighs while leaning on the counter, a little smile appearing on the corner of his lips.

"Hey, pretty boy!"

Armie looks up, watching as Paul struggles to make it through the door with some boxes and rushes over to help him, suddenly a lot more relaxed. 

  
  


**************

  
  


The sun is still high in the sky as people walk around the skate park, carrying tools and moving things from side to side. Back at the wall he was on the previous day, Armie keeps scrapping the old paint, laughing every time the tool slips from Jake´s hand and he groans.

He bites on his lip, shrugs his shoulders as his friend shoots him a look and then goes back to work. He does it slow and with patience, making sure he doesn´t miss a spot; he rather do a good job than rush things over. After all, he is actually enjoying this whole thing and he wouldn´t mind if the renovation lasted a little longer than expected.

"Does this have to be so hard?" Jake moans as Armie look at him with a frown. "What?"

"You´re scrapping the wall, Jake, is not that hard."

"Of course it is."

"You´re just not used to heavy work."

"Maybe."

"And you call me rich boy."

"Well, you are."

Armie rolls his eyes, slaps the back of Jake´s head and then turns back to the wall, a sigh escaping him. "My mom called today."

"And you answered?" Jake asks a little surprised as Armie nods. "How did it go?"

"Better than expected, actually. She said she is trying to understand me and accept my choices in life. She also invited me for dinner."

"You´re going, right? I mean, I understand she has said things that were hurtful, but she´s your mother and from what I´ve seen, she loves you more than anything."

"That´s what she said."

"You really should go, maybe even try to sit down and talk to her. It has been a while since you were face to face, maybe things will be easier now."

"I hope so."

They both turn around, leaning against the wall as they watch people working. Suddenly Zac appears in the middle of the crowd, his eyes roaming through the entire place, a look of confusion upon his face.

He walks in their direction and Jake is the first one to wave him over, patting him in the back the moment he reaches them. He puts on a small on his face, but even for them it´s clear that he is forcing it.

"Dude, we got here and couldn´t find you, so we decided to get back from where I had left off."

"That´s fine, Armie, don´t worry."

Zac bounces from one foot to the other, chewing on his lip as his eyes repeatedly look around them. He sighs, scratches the back of his neck and then turns back to Armie and Jake, who are looking at him rather confused.

"Dude, are you okay?" Jake finally asks, landing a hand on Zac´s shoulder and making him stop moving. "You look a bit weird, to be honest."

"No, I´m fine." He sighs, his eyes wandering to Armie. "I´m not fine, actually. Have you talked to Timmy this afternoon? Seen him around or something?"

"No, not really. We texted yesterday night for a few minutes, but I haven´t seen or heard from him today. Why?"

"We were supposed to meet in front of school after lunch. I got there, spent nearly an hour waiting for him and he didn´t show up. So I came here on my own, texted, called and got absolutely nothing in return. I even called his mom in hopes she would tell me something, but she won´t answer it either and I´m sure there´s a plausible explanation for all of this, but I´m starting to get worried."

"Maybe it´s just some family business and he couldn´t come."

Armie´s eyes wander to Jake the moment he hears the word family, his mind already going to dark places. He shakes his head, trying to push those thoughts away and turns to Zac, who looks really worried by now.

"Judging by your reaction, this never happened before, right?"

"No. Timmy doesn´t usually disappears, especially when it´s something so important to him. He would at least text me saying he couldn´t make it."

"I will try to talk to him, see if he answers me." Zac nods and Armie reaches for his phone, quickly typing a message. He looks down at the small screen, waiting for something, but sighs as nothing comes.

"Nothing, right?"

Jake squeezes his shoulder, causing Zac to look at him once again. "Look, I get that you are worried, but I think we should give him some time. Maybe he doesn´t have his phone with him, maybe he had to go somewhere in a rush and couldn´t tell you. Try to relax and focus your mind on all the work we got to do here, in a few hours if he still hasn´t shown up or texted back, we´ll help you look for him. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, you´re right. I´m probably overreacting anyway."

"Jake´s right, let´s all just calm down and see what happens." Zac nods and Armie smiles, patting on the back before handing him one of the scrape tools. "Wanna help us with this goddamn wall?"

"Sure, why not?"

  
  


**************

  
  


**< armandoeldestructo>** _dude where r u?_

_  .... _

_ everyone looking for u _

_.... _

_ is everything alright? _

_.... _

_ something happened with ur dad? _

_... _

_ seriously tim _

_.... _

_ where are u? _

 

Armie stares at the computer screen with a frown upon his face, his fingers tapping on the desk as he bites his lip. He left the skate park with Jake hours ago, searching on all the places Zac considered to be Timothée´s favorites and yet they didn´t find anything, no one had seen or heard from him since school and even if they tried to keep it cool, the whole situation was reaching a point where it was impossible not to be worried.

He reaches for his phone, sees there´s no messages there either and sighs, leaning back on his swivel chair. In the quietness of the house, he hears the front door open and quickly closes the msn windows, turns off the computer and then gets up, making his way out of the bedroom. He reaches the living room just as Lois walks in, struggling to close the door and hold some paper bags at the same time. He shakes his head, runs over to her and helps with the bags, placing them on the kitchen counter.

"Is okay to ask for help sometimes, you know? Won´t make you less of a feminist."

"Don´t be so dramatic, okay? I just wasn´t sure if you were home or not, everything´s so quiet." Armie shrugs as Lois pushes him away, making him chuckle. He hops on the counter, stealing a package of cookies as he watches Lois walk around the tiny kitchen, transfering things from the counter to the cupboards. "But since you are home, maybe I could cook some pasta and we could sit down to watch a movie. What you say?"

"Is Steve joining us?"

"Do you really hate him that much?"

"Hate is a strong word, cousin." She shoots him a look and Armie shrugs, biting on a cookie. "I don´t hate the guy, but I also don´t actually like him."

"Why?"

"Because he is boring and at the same time so full of himself, it seriously annoys me. What I don´t really understand is how someone like you can be in a relationship with him."

"Well, because he is nice to me and I think he is quite cool."

"Look, I´m glad he´s nice to you, but even I know you need more than that to maintain a good relationship."

"Find someone you actually have feelings for, then we can get back to this topic, is that okay?" Armie nods, taking yet another bite of the cookie. "But you can relax, he isn´t coming tonight."

"That´s great," Armie says while hoping off of the counter and walking to the sink. He places a quick kiss on Lois´cheek and then reaches for a bowl at the top of the shelves, handing it to her with a smile. "You want some help there?"

"Chop some tomatoes and onions, can you do that?" Armie nods eagerly and walks back to the counter, collecting the utensils needed before he hops on a stool. "Oh, I saw your friend."

"What friend?"

"Timothée," she says as Armie quickly turns around, arching an eyebrow. "What? That´s his name, right?"

"You saw Timothée?"

"Yeah. I left work and was walking to the supermarket when I saw him reaching the pier."

"And you´re sure it was him?"

She shrugs. "I´ll be honest with you, Armie. It was quite dark and when I called he didn´t even look back, but I´m pretty sure it was him."

"Around the pier?" Armie asks already standing up, his eyes wandering around the living room in search for his phone while he pats on his pockets. He curses, runs over to his bedroom and then comes back with the phone in hand, watching as a confused Lois stares back at him.

"Mind telling me what the fuck is going on? Why you´re acting like this?"

"Timothée disappeared hours ago."

"What you mean he disappeared?"

"He left school and no one has seen or heard from him ever since, now you´re telling me you might have seen him at the pier, so I need to go there and check if it really is him." Lois nods slowly, her blue eyes worried as she stares at Armie. "I´ll explain things better when I come back, okay?"

"Of course. Do you want me to call someone?"

"No, it´s okay. I´ll do that once I am sure it´s him."

"Okay, keep me informed."

"I´ll do my best," he says while halfway through the door. There´s something weird going on and he needs to figure out what it is.

  
  


*************

  
  


The beach is pitch black, the sound of the ocean soothing and constant while a few people still aimlessly walk around the pier and some couples make out. Armie is standing in front of the record store, tired and hopeless; it´s nearly 11pm and although he has gone through the entire pier and its surroundings, he hasn´t found anything that could give him a clue on where Timothée could be.

In the end, it seems like Lois was wrong.

He sighs, chews on his lip and leans against the wooden rail as he stares into the beach in front of him. Zac said Timothée had never done something like this, that he usually is quite the responsable guy and answers his texts and calls as soon as he can. Sure, Jake could be right and he might have had to go somewhere and left his phone behind, but what are the odds of a seventeen year old guy doing this? Then there´s the bit of information he got on Timothée´s father, which worries him that something bad might have happened and Timothée is ashamed to say. Judging by what he said, no one other than him knows about his father´s problems.

He buries his face in his hands, takes on a deep breath and then looks around the place once again, his eyes suddenly landing on the lifeguard stand. It´s the same one they sat down the day they met, the same one they spent most of Saturday night in and for some reason, seeing it there seems almost like a beacon of hope for Armie. He quickly makes it down the pier and runs on the sand towards the small construction, his feet sinking in from time to time and making the whole thing a lot harder. He can see a silhouette sitting curled up there as soon as he reaches the stand, so he slowly goes up the slope, his eyes adjusting to the darkness, a sigh of relief escaping him when he realizes it is indeed Timothée.

Sadly, the excitement for finally finding him doesn´t last song. When Timothée looks up at him, Armie´s eyes go wide as he notices the bruises that cover his face.

"Tim, what happened with you?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armie and Timothée have a serious conversation.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 13**

  
  


The waves crash on the shore, the sound echoing around the entire beach and fulfilling the silence that takes them over. Timothée and Armie have their eyes locked on each other, one sees worry while the other sees fear. There are many words being said between them, a silence that is louder than any scream for help. Armie knows, even if he hasn´t been told already, he has been able to put the puzzles together and understand what is going on.

Now he only needs to understand how he can possibly help his friend.

He sighs, takes a sit beside Timothée and hugs his legs, leaning his chin on his knees. He keeps himself quiet for a while longer, his blue eyes wandering around the dark beach while his mind processes everything and he comes up with a hundred different questions to ask. Questions he knows he probably won´t get an answer for, at least not now.

"Why are you even here?" Surprisingly, Timothée is the one to break the silence, even if his voice is hoarse and comes out as barely a whisper.

"Why am I here? You disappeared for most of the day and you expected people to simply go on with their lives as if nothing had happened?"

"I just wanted to be left alone, Armie."

"Because you´re ashamed? Because you´re scared to ask for help or because you don´t trust us enough?"

Armie´s questions might have come out a bit harsher than he intended, but they sure make Timothée feel something. He watches as his lips starts to quiver and tears start falling down his cheeks, his sobs becoming more frequent every second, which causes him to moan in pain as he grabs onto his shoulder. Suddenly Armie realizes that the problem might be even worse than he expected.

Armie bites on his lip, moves a bit closer to Timothée, letting a hand rest on the young boy´s shoulder. He simply lets his hand rest there, scared that any movement could inflict even more pain on Timothée and that is not something he wants to do. Not now, nor ever.

"I´m not gonna push you to talk about anything, okay? But you also can´t stop me from sitting here and making sure you are alright."

Timothée scoffs, the words sounding almost like a joke. Alright. He hasn´t been alright in years, he hasn´t felt true joy and excitement ever since his father started drinking; after all, he knows everything when he is around is short lived. Because of his father, Timothée isn´t as happy as he used to be; his hope in life and the world is almost running out and it´s getting harder and harder to trust people. Except...

"I haven´t been alright in years, Armie. I was only eleven years old when I saw my father pass out in the couch with booze all over him, but back then I was scared for his life, I was worried that something bad could happen to him. And to be honest, if things had remained that way, it would all have been much easier to handle, but that´s not how it usually goes, right? He got worse, started drinking stronger things, paired weed with coke, wasted all the money he got on hookers and when my mom started questioning his actions, he got violent."

Timothée stops for a second, carefully wiping away his tears as he leans his head back on the wall. There´s a mix of shame and relief taking him over as he finally lets it all out.

"At first he would just hold her arm a bit tighter, then he started pushing her, until eventually I started seeing the bruises. She followed the usual pattern, said she had fallen on the bathroom, bumped into the nightstand or tripped on something and I believed in her. Well, I am not sure if I actually believed in her or if I was just trying to tell myself that he would never be capable of such things. Eventually he was doing it right in front of me, no shame whatsoever and it didn´t take long for me to become a target too. It was only logical, he never really liked me, he never really cared, so when I tried to protect her, he took it as an opportunity to lash out on me.”

Timothée looks to the side, watching Armie for a second before he takes on a couple of deep breaths, trying to regain some strength. His body is spent, his mouth is dry, his eyes are getting heavier and every single bone and muscle in his body aches, not to mention the goosebumps that cover his arms. Summer might be on its way, but it hasn´t been a hot day.

"You have no idea how terrified I am every time he comes home, or the amount of physical and mental abuse I have gone through the last couple of years, Armie. I´m so fucking tired, so scared for my mom and there´s absolutely nothing I can do about it."

"That´s not true," Armie finally says. "If you want, I can go to the police with you right now."

"We´re not gonna do that."

"Tim, this is the only way to stop him."

"Is it?" He turns to face Armie again, tears still streaming down his bruised face. "Because I can easily see him getting so angry, that he finally kills me and my mom."

"Tim..."

"I´m not gonna do that, Armie. I have tried many times to convince my mom we should leave, but she´s terrified of him doing something against us and I don´t blame her. She´s with him since she was sixteen, Armie, she doesn´t know a life where he is not there and I know how scared she is of finding herself alone and with no perspective."

"She will have you, she won´t be alone."

"I´m not going to the police, Armie. And if you really care, even just a little, you will respect my decision."

Armie stares at him, million of thoughts going through his head. He knows what is the right thing to do, but he also can´t simply go through Timothée´s feelings. It´s already a surprise that he felt confident enough to open up, Armie should make sure he knows he is there for him.

"Okay, I won´t force you to go to the police, but I am taking you to my place."

"What?"

"You don´t want to go to the police and I will respect your decision, but you can´t possibly think I will leave you here all alone or allow you to go back to your house. You´re coming with me and I won´t take no for an answer."

"I can barely walk right now, Armie, everything hurts."

"I´ll help you, I don´t care. You´re not staying here, Timothée."

"You don´t have to do this," he practically whispers, his voice even hoarser than it was before. 

"If you think I am doing this out of pity, than you don´t know me at all. You´re my friend, Timothée, you´re hurt, you´re shivering, you´re in need of help and I am not leaving this place without you."

Timothée blinks a couple of times, his bruised body and tired mind taking him over. He watches as Armie stands his hand out and through all the pain that shoots through his body, he pushes himself up. He stumbles forward and nearly falls to the ground, but is held by Armie, who stares down at him with fearful eyes. Timothée sighs through the pain, tries to keep himself together and holds tighter onto Armie´s arms, steading himself up.

"You okay?"

"I will be."

Armie nods, slides a hand to Timothée´s waist and hold onto him as tight as he can without actually hurting him. He wraps one of Timothée´s arms around his shoulder and slowly helps him down the ramp, taking quick looks at him. He looks so fragile, Armie can´t barely take it.

  
  


***************

  
  


It´s nearly midnight, the house is dark and quiet, but the television is on, making Lois some company as she sits down on the couch with her legs up and a mug of tea on her hands. Her blue eyes wander around the entire living room and kitchen, worry consuming her as she notices another hour goes by without news of Armie.

She reaches for her phone and quickly texts her cousin one more time, waiting to see if she gets anything in return. Silence remains and she sighs, pushing herself up from the couch and walking around the house, trying to ease the agony inside of her. 

Suddenly she hears noises on the front yard and rushes to the door, her eyes widening as she sees Armie and Timothée walking towards her. Armie has an arm around Timothée´s waist, trying to keep the younger boy up as he practically drags his feet through the pavement. It´s dark and Timothée has his head down, but Lois can still see the bruises on his face and how pale he looks.

Lois open the door wider, watches completely speechless as Armie struggles with Timothée. She feels her body shake, uncertain of what to do or say at the moment; she takes a couple of deep breaths, wipes away the tears, rushes down the hallway and opens the door to Armie´s bedroom and tries her best to help her cousin.

Leaned against the wall, chewing on her lip and slightly overwhelmed by the whole thing happening in front of her, Lois watches as Armie places Timothée down on his bed, the younger boy wincing in pain. While Armie tries his best to make sure Timothée is comfortable, Lois rushes to the bathroom and grabs her first aid kit before making it back to the bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed.

She slowly cleans Timothée´s face, the dried blood on the corner of his lips extremely daunting to her. Her eyes wander to Armie, an inquisitive look on her face as he sighs, gestures towards the living room and she nods. 

They both look back at Timothée, who has his eyes closed and a much more relaxed look upon his face by now; his breathing is also slowing down and in within seconds he is already asleep. Lois gets up, follows Armie out of the bedroom and then watches as he takes one last look at Timothée before closing the door.

"What happened, Armie?"

"Remember when I told you I was scared for him? Well, I was right to be scared."

"I can see that, but what exactly happened?"

"His father is an alcoholic and when he is drunk he beats Timmy and his mom."

"What? We have to go to the police, Armie."

"No, we´re not going to police."

"Have you taken a look at him, Armie? He´s face is full of bruises, he could barely walk, we can´t pretend nothing is happening."

"Lois, he asked me not to do this and I won´t betray him."

"Armie, this is..."

"I don´t care, Lois. Timothée doesn´t want me to call the police and I will respect his decision."

"You´re not stupid, Armie, you know this can end badly."

Armie sighs, his hand resting on Lois´ shoulder. "Let's just forget about this, okay? Timothée getting better is what matters right now, nothing else.”

“Fine, whatever you say.”

"Thank you." He squeezes her shoulder, trying to pull on a smile on his face. "Now, can you help me make something for him to eat when he wakes up? I highly doubt he has eaten anything in hours."

Lois smiles while nodding her head, her arm wrapping around Armie´s waist as they walk towards the kitchen. "You´re a good friend, Armie."

"I´m trying."

  
  


***************

 

The curtains in the living room window are wide open and from the couch Armie watches as the Sun rises. His body is all curled up on the couch, a tired look takes over his face as he stares out of the window and tries to process everything that happened the previous night. Finding Timothée all bruised had a huge impact on him, seeing how scared and fragile he looked made Armie himself feel powerless.

He yawns, turns around on the couch, which is too small for him, and closes his eyes, trying his best to relax. The sound of a door opening causes him to sit up immediately, but he sighs as he realizes it´s Lois. She´s on her gym attire, her hair braided and even if she obviously doesn´t look as bad as he does, he can clearly see the bags under her eyes. Ironically, it seems like Timothée is the only one in the house who managed to actually get some sleep.

"Good morning," Armie says as he walks past him, her hand squeezing his shoulder quickly. He looks over his shoulder, watches as she starts working on breakfast and forces himself up. If he can´t sleep, might as well do something productive.

"Did you manage to get any sleep?" Lois asks as she places two slices of bread on the toaster.

"No, not really. I kept waking up every ten minutes to check on him." She nods, leaning against the counter as Armie prepares coffee. "What about you?"

"Kind of. It took me a long time to actually be able to relax my body enough for me to sleep, but even after I did so, it was an agitated night."

Armie nods, takes two mugs and pours some coffee on them. He hands one to Lois, who gladly takes in her hands and sits down on a stool. Armie can tell she is tense, the way she looks everywhere but to him, the way she keeps on tracing the mug with her finger; he knows her enough to know that she is debating whether or not to say something.

Before he can say anything, the sound of the toaster fills the air and Armie rushes to it, taking both slices of bread in a plate and placing it on the counter. He sits down across from Lois, leaning his chin on his elbow and contemplates whether he is hungry or not. Even though he didn´t have dinner and also didn´t eat anything after he made it back home with Timothée, there´s so much going on inside of him that hunger isn´t really an issue.

"You have to eat, Armie. You can´t help him if you´re weak yourself."

"I know, but I feel like nothing is gonna go down right now. All I can do is think about how fragile he looked, how hurt and scared he was and I want to help, I want to do something to take him out of his misery. I just don´t know what."

"You do know what you gotta do, Armie. We both know."

"Stop it, Lois."

"Armie, this isn´t a joke. His father is abusive, we need to go to the police and tell them everything."

"We´re not gonna do that."

"Is the only way to help him, Armie."

"We´re not going to the police."

"For fuck´s sake, Armie. Will you listen to me at least once? This is serious and..."

"No," he says while slamming his fist on the counter, which leaves Lois with wide eyes. "He trusted me not to tell this to anyone and I have already told you, Lois. Now I don´t really care what I think it´s best or what you tell me, I´m gonna do what he asked me to do."

"Okay, we´ll do things his way then."

"Thank you."

She sighs, pushes some strands of hair back and quickly finishes her breakfast. She gets up, placing her plate and mug on the sink and then turns to Armie, a small smile on her face. "I think what you´re doing for him is amazing, Armie."

"Just doing what any friend would do."

Lois knows this isn´t entirely true. Since she saw them for the first time, it has been clear for her that Armie and Timothée have a special relationship, something different from any other friendship her cousin ever had. Maybe he hasn´t even noticed himself, but it´s clear to Lois that Timothée means a lot to Armie.

"I´m going to the gym, but I should be back in about an hour."

"Take your time, cousin. I can handle things here just fine."

"What time you have to leave for work?"

"I already texted Paul saying I can´t make it today."

She nods. "Well, there´s food in the fridge if he wakes up hungry or if you decide to actually eat something. Also, make sure he takes a shower and cleans those bruises. I tried my best last night, but I was scared of waking him up, so I might not have done a great job."

"Lois, I got it all covered."

"Okay, I´ll see you later." She places a kiss on his cheek, grabs her stuff and heads out, waving at him before she closes the door.

Armie sighs, pushes the plate and mug away from him and the hops off of the stool. He walks down the hallway and slowly opens the door to his bedroom, staring at Timothée. The boy seems peaceful, despite his bruises, which gives Armie some kind of comfort.

He carefully closes the door, walks back to the living room and sits down on the couch. With his phone in hand, he tries to come up with something that will make Zac feel better, give him some kind of relief, but he quickly understands that there´s absolutely nothing he can write now that it won´t sound suspicious. He tosses the phone back on the couch, pushes his legs up and leans his head back, hoping he can get some sleep before Timothée wakes up.

  
  


**************

  
  


Timothée blinks a couple of times, before his eyes adjust to the bright light on the bedroom. He turns to his side, burying his face in pillows, but his entire body seems to scream in pain as he does so, which causes him to lie on his back once again. He frowns, his confused eyes wandering through the bedroom for a good minute before he remembers he is not at his house. Armie brought him home and although he can barely remember anything that happened on the previous night after they left the beach, he is almost certain both Armie and Lois helped him to bed and cleaned his bruises before he fell asleep.

He touches his lip, but the pain is nearly excruciating, so he quickly withdraws his hand. Slowly, he sits down and leans his back against the pillows, a sigh escaping him as he tries to control the pain. Timothée leans his head back, closes his eyes and tries to control his breathing just as he hears the door open; he keeps himself quiet for a moment, but eventually opens his eyes, only to find Armie standing by the foot of the bed.

"Hey."

"Hi," his voice is still a bit hoarse and dry, which makes him cough a little. As if he had predicted such thing, Armie walks closer to him, handing him a glass of water, which Timothée gladly takes in his hands, drinking almost everything in one go. "Thanks."

"Do you want more?"

"No, I´m okay."

"Are you?"

"Is this the time you start lecturing me about how I should leave the house and go to the police? Because I already told you I´m not doing that until I am sure my mom will be alright."

"None of you will be alright if this keeps on going, Tim."

"The way I see it, he might kill us either way, so I´ll take my chances. I don´t have much perspectives in life anyway, whatever happens happens."

Armie shakes his head, taking a seat on the edge of the bed, his eyes locked on Timothée. "You can´t be serious. You´re intelligent, good and talented, you can achieve a lot in life, Timothée."

If the words affect Timothée in any way, he doesn´t let it show; his eyes remain lifeless, his expression serious and almost bored. 

"I should go."

"Absolutely not, you´re not leaving."

"You can´t keep me here."

"I can and I will." Timothée shoots him a look and Armie sighs, burying his face in his hand for a second. "Fine, you don´t want to leave your mom alone for too long and I totally understand that, but you´re smart enough to know you can´t possibly go back there and face another beating when you barely recovered from the last."

"So what?"

"So stay here while you recover, once you´re feeling better you go back home."

"I don´t know, Armie. There´s no reason for me to be here and..."

"You need help and we´re willing to help, Tim."

"I´ve been going through this for over four years, Armie. I didn´t need anyone´s help when he broke my arm, or when I could barely eat for two days because he...," he trails off, a lump on his throat as he remembers all the things his father put him through.

"Did he ever...did he ever tried to..." Armie can´t even say the words, so he simply stares at Timothée, tears threatening to fall.

"No, he never did that."

"Oh that´s...good? I mean, is there any good in this situation?"

"Is okay, Armie. No one should be used to a situation like this one, so it´s okay that you don´t know how to handle it." Timothée says between tears; as much as he wanted to keep himself together, there are moments he just can´t handle it. "I´m the one who´s wrong here, I´m the one acting like this is normal."

"Maybe we...maybe we should...I mean... fuck," Armie sighs, doing his best not to cry right now; he needs to keep himself strong so he can help Timothée. "I´m gonna help you get out of this situation, okay? I don´t know how or when, but I will help you and your mom."

"You don´t have to."

"I want to."

"Thank you. Thank you for not judging me or forcing me to do anything I don´t want to."

"May I ask you why you never told this to Zac?"

"I don´t know. I´ve tried many times, but I could never find the strength to do so, I always chickened out."

"Then why me?"

Timothée simply shrugs, his eyes never leaving Armie´s. "I wish I knew."

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timothée stays with Armie while he recovers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I´m so happy with the support this fic is getting, you guys are absolutely amazing. We now have a playlist on Spotify with all the music featured here, so check it out if you want to, the link will be at the end of the chapter.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 14**

  
  


Timothée steps out of the shower, his dripping wet body moving carefully around the unfamiliar bathroom. He reaches for one of the towels Armie handed him and dries off his body, wincing a little as the fabric brushes against some of the bruises on his skin. From the corner of his eyes, he catches a glimpse of himself on the mirror reflection; the pain has subsided but the bruises are still pretty visible, specially the one on his rib. 

He steps closer to the mirror, his finger gently touching his swollen lip as he remembers the whole incident once again. He blinks away the tears that are threatening to fall, lets out a deep breath and reaches for the clothes that are meticulously folded on top of a shelf. Timothée chuckles as he stares at the shirt, which is at least four sizes bigger than his, then brings it closer to his nose, taking in the scent for a second. He bites on his lip, shakes his head and puts the shirt on quickly, reaching for the pants and underwear right after it. 

He frowns at the sight in the mirror. He looks like a fucking clown wearing those baggy clothes, but he can´t deny that they are indeed comfortable and that's everything he needs right now. He dries off his hair, hangs the towel back on and rushes out of the bathroom, his eyes landing on Armie almost immediately.  

"Well, look at that. I told you my clothes wouldn't make you look weird." Armie mocks as Timothée rolls his eyes. "I prepared you my very special meal, grilled cheese and orange juice."

"Wow, you´re practically a chef."

"Nice to know your sense of humor hasn´t been affected by this."

"Like I said, I´m used to this whole thing and I have had to put on a facade for so long, I´ve learned to laugh even in the worse days."

Timothée sits down next to Armie on the floor, biting on his lip at the  pain that radiates through his body. He sighs, takes a few bites of the sandwich and then turns to look at Armie, who has a serious look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"How can you talk about this as if it was the most normal thing in the world, Tim?"

"It is my normal, Armie."

"Well, it shouldn't be. You shouldn't be used to having bruises all over your body, you should not be used to the verbal abuse he puts you through."

"And what exactly do you want me to do? Put me and my mother through even more danger trying to runaway from him without money, without a plan or a place to go? You have no idea of the things I go through on that house, Armie, you have no idea how many times I have thought of simply taking off during the night, but it´s not that fucking easy."

Armie blinks a couple of times, his lips twitching in an attempt to say something, although the words don´t seem to come. He sighs, his eyes turning down to his fingers, which he nervously taps on his knee. 

"I´m sorry," Timothée practically whispers, causing Armie to look up with an eyebrow arched. "I shouldn't have snapped at you, it´s just...this isn´t something easy to deal with and I know how easy it is for people to judge, but I´m not there because I want to, I´m there because it´s all I have."

"Why are you even saying sorry? You trusted me enough to actually share such a painful part of your life, I´m the one who should learn to listen instead of jumping into conclusions. I want to be a good friend and help you, instead I am sitting here and talking bullshit."

Timothée can´t help but let a small smile come to the corner of his lips. "It´s not bullshit, Armie."

"Yes, it is."

"Armie, I´m the one going through this and half of the time I don´t know how to deal with it, why should you?" He sighs, leaning his back on the couch. "I´m merely coping with it, lying my way through it and hoping no one will figure out."

"You shouldn´t lie about it, at least not to Zac. He is seriously worried about you and I tried to come up with something to tell him, but everything seems so suspicious, I just given up."

"I sent him a text, told him I had to rush to my aunt´s house because she got sick and my mom didn´t want to go alone."

"Do you even have an aunt?" Armie asks with an eyebrow raised, to which Timothée shrugs.

"My father has a sister, but I haven´t seen her in ten years." Armie can´t help but chuckle. "I´ll tell him eventually, I just need more time."

"Do what you have to do, in the meantime we can watch this Dismissed marathon on MTv."

Timothée frowns. "Are you serious right now?"

"Oh c´mon, you´re gonna tell me you don´t like it?"

"It´s a shitty show, Armie."

"No, it´s not. Is actually really great to understand human behavior."

"That´s the excuse you´re using? Studying human behavior?"

"Doesn´t work, right?"

"No, it doesn´t." Timothée chuckles, takes another bite of his sandwich and then bumps his shoulder on Armie´s. "But since I am your guest, I will watch with you."

"That´s what I like to hear," Armie says excited as he turns on the volume, a beaming smile on his face.

  
  
  


***************

  
  


Armie lets the brush down, a frown on his face as he stares at the painting in front of him. He isn't entirely sure of what surprises him the most, the fact he was able to finish a painting, or the fact he actually liked what he did. Truth is, as he stares at the canvas, he can't help but feel a sense of pride and excitement, all the while knowing deep inside of him that the current situation has helped him somehow. The painting is a lot darker than what he is used to do, the brushes are stronger, there's a sad tone to it, which obviously comes from all the things he found out about Timothée.

Timothée. A name that less than a month ago meant absolutely nothing to Armie, now belongs to someone he feels a strange urge to keep close, to protect. He sighs, takes a quick look at his watch and then gets up, cleaning his hands on his shirt, which is now covered in dark blue paint. He pouts, already able to hear Lois excessively talking about how he needs to be more careful with his clothes, which he knows is true. To save her -and him- from another speech, Armie takes off the shirt and makes sure to leave it on water and soap before he makes his way back inside the house.

Once inside, it doesn't take him long to notice the faint sound of music that comes from his bedroom. He smirks, walks down the hallway and leans against the threshold, arms crossed above his chest as he watches Timothée attempting some chords. The guitar nearly falls from his hand at some point and Armie has to bite on his lip to remain quiet and not startle the younger boy, who keeps struggling with thing. 

It takes him a minute or two, but eventually Timothée manages to play a little bit of something, to which Armie smiles, clapping his hands and whistling.

Surprised, Timothée turns around and lets the guitar fall to the ground with a loud thud. His eyes widen, he freezes for a moment but soon enough drops to the ground to take a hold of it.

"Fuck, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Tim."

"What? Are you insane? I just dropped your guitar, of course it's not okay."

Armie chuckles, taking the guitar from Timothée with a smile. "If you had any idea of how many times this baby has fallen to the ground, you wouldn't be apologizing. Look around you, does it seem like I care much about how I place things? Sometimes I leave it behind the door, completely forget about it and end up crashing the door against it. Sometimes I sleep with it on the bed beside me and when I wake up is on the floor, so believe me, she has seen it worse."

"She?" Armie shrugs, taking a seat on the bed. Timothée watches silently as he starts strumming, his fingers moving effortlessly, a sweet and calm melody taking over the room. "How long do you play?"

"Since I was ten. I begged my parents to buy me one, took a few classes, but didn't really get along with the teacher, so I drop it and learned it on my own."

"Street artist and musician, it seems like you're the full package."

Armie shrugs, a smirk on his face. "No one is complaining."

"Always so full of yourself."

"Hey, you started." Timothée goes to say something but then simply shrugs, causing Armie to chuckle. He looks down at the guitar, his hand sliding down the strings for a quick moment before he lets his eyes wander back to Timothée. "I can give you some lessons if you want."

"What? Oh no, that's not necessary."

"It's okay, I'm not doing anything anyway."

"Look, I love music, but I think I'm a better listener than anything else."

"So no guitar lessons for you?"

"No guitar lessons for me," he says while leaning against the desk, his fingers slowly tracing the illustrations that are lying there. "I wouldn't mind listening to some music, though."

"Okay, then. You got any requests?"

"Surprise me."

They look at each other for a brief moment, the little smirk on Timothée's face not going by unnoticed by Armie. He bites on his lip, frowns as he thinks of a song he could play and then lets his fingers strum along the strings. His eyes turn down to the guitar, his feet beating to the rhythm as he slowly loses himself in the melody.

He is playing Black by Pearl Jam and it doesn't take Timothée longer than five seconds to recognize. He watches in awe as Armie's fingers move gracefully, a wide smile coming to his lips as he watches the older boy bob his head up and down, his lips moving as he nearly whispers the lyrics. Timothée pushes himself away from the desk, takes a seat beside Armie on the bed and lets his fingers drum along to the rhythm.

Apart from the day they met, where he saw Armie completely lost on the drawing he was finishing on the wall, Timothée has never seen him that relaxed. It's a good look on him, that's for sure.

The little music session goes on for a few more minutes, Armie changing songs in less than seconds and doing so without messing up any chords. The look on Timothée's face is enough for anyone to notice he is in complete awe, the music drawing him in and bringing him a much needed peace of mind.

Once Armie is finally done and puts the guitar down, Timothée makes sure to put on a scene, clapping and bowing. Armie laughs, nudges him playfully and then throws himself back on the bed with a sigh. His blue eyes wander through the ceiling before falling on Timothée, who he watches silently for a while.

Unable to ignore the stare, Timothée looks over his shoulder, an eyebrow arched at Armie. "What you looking at?"

Armie shrugs, licking his lips. "Nothing in particular."

Silence ensues, their eyes locked on each other's and shy smiles on their lips. There's a undeniable tension between the two of them and that has been clear for a while, but it seems now that Timothée has opened himself up and told Armie the truth about his life, things have become even more intense, nearly palpable.

"Hello?"

The voice startles them, bringing them back to reality and causing them both to turn back to the door, where Lois is standing with a smile on her face and a couple of bags on her hands.

"Hey, cousin."

"Am I interrupting something?"

"No, I was just trying to teach Timmy how to play the guitar."

"Actually, he was just putting on a show."

"That´s my cousin." She mocks as Armie rolls his eyes. "I bought some snacks for us, thought we could eat it while watching a movie."

"That sounds great to me," Armie says while getting up; he turns back to Timothée, an eyebrow arched. "You joining us?'

"I´m right behind you." 

  
  


*************

  
  


The sound of the television echoes in the quiet and dark living room, the three of them sitting on the floor, bowls of popcorn lying in between them. Lois has her head leaned back slightly, her eyes closing every two seconds as she keeps trying to fight off sleep and focus on the movie.

Armie looks at her with a frown, chuckles as Lois´ head falls back and her eyes widen in surprise. He bites on his lip as she turns to look at him, so tired and sleepy she doesn´t even get angry at the mocking look on his face. She pushes herself up, stretches out her arms and lets out a loud yawn.

"Guys, I give up, I can´t keep my eyes open any longer." She pulls her hair up in a bun, her eyes down to the boys. "Tim, you should sleep early and get some rest. And you, Armand, don´t forget you got work tomorrow."

"Yes, mom." Armie says as Lois shoots him a look. "Just got to sleep, Lois, we can handle ourselves."

"Good night, guys."

"Good night," they say in unison, watching as lois drags herself down the hallway and to her bedroom. Timothée chuckles as the door slams close behind her, then turns back to Armie, who´s squirming around on the floor as he tries to reach for something on his back pocket.

"You okay there, buddy?"

"Yep," he says while finally pulling out a joint and a lighter, a smirk coming to his face. "Now that she´s asleep and won´t be able to complain about the smell, wanna join me?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

Armie shrugs, lights up the joint and takes a long drag of it before handing it to Timothée. He slides down on the floor so he can rest his head on the couch cushions and watches Timothée in silence, his blue eyes wandering through the younger boy´s face, sadness and anger consuming him whenever he spots a bruise.

When Timothée turns around to give him the joint back, it´s pretty obvious he has noticed the stare, but for once Armie doesn´t avert his eyes nor seems bothered by being caught.  He takes the joint in between his fingers, which brush against Timothée´s slowly, sending a weird shiver through his spine. It´s getting harder and harder to pretend the boy doesn´t have an unexpected effect on him.

Timothée blows out the smoke, licks his lips and leans his head back on the couch, his eyes stuck on the ceiling. He can obviously feel Armie´s stare, which is odd but surprisingly not uncomfortable or awkward; it´s simply something he hasn´t dealt with before, but that somehow feels almost too right. He shifts around a little, feels the warmth of Armie´s body getting closer to his and goosebumps fill his skin when the older boy lands a hand on his arm. He looks down at it, takes the joint in between his fingers and brings it to his lips, taking one more drag of it.

He turns back to Armie, their eyes locked for a second before they both blow out the smoke at the same time. They laugh, the trance that had taken them over like a veil, suddenly coming down. Not that it means the tension is no longer there, because if they are both being honest, it has always been there, ever since day one.

"Maybe I should go back home tomorrow."

"No way, you can´t go."

"I have to go to school, Armie."

"Do you even have a plausible excuse for Zac and everyone else who asks about the bruises on your face?"

"So what?" He asks while turning his head to face Armie. "Do I stay here until they are no longer visible?"

"I´ve got no problem with that," Armie answers softly, his eyes never leaving Timothée.

Timothée swallows hard, the proximity between them almost too much to bear, but he would be lying if he said there wasn´t a part of him that wanted to reach out and touch. Even if it was only to find out how it felt.

Armie licks his lips, his eyes wandering down to Timothée´s. He can feel a smile coming to the corner of his lips and his breathing getting a bit faster as they both move closer. He takes a deep breath, looks back at Timothée´s eyes and groans as he hears his phone ringing, which causes them both to pull back, eyes turning back to the television. Armie reaches for his phone, takes a quick look at it and sighs in frustration while getting up.

"Hey Alex, what´s up?"

  
  


************

 

The sun shines through the open curtains and illuminates the entire kitchen. Timothée is standing by the stove, apron tied around his waist as he stirs some eggs on the pan and checks on the bacon, making sure it doesn´t burn. He looks over his shoulder at the sound of footsteps and smiles at Lois, who looks at him slightly confused.

"What are you doing, boy?" She asks while hoping on the counter. 

"I woke up early and decided to make us some breakfast, guess is only fair since I´ve been moping around your house for three days now."

"You´re not moping around, Tim, you´re our guest."

"And I´m only here because I was moping around on the beach when Armie found me."

"You´re here because we want you here. And we´ve already told you, you can stay for as long as you want."

"And I truly appreciate it, but I need clean clothes, I need to grab my stuff for school and it´s not fair that Armie loses his bed because of me."

"You could share, you know." Timothée looks at her with an eyebrow arched and she shrugs. "Unless that´s too gay for you boys, of course."

"I just think he wouldn´t be very comfortable. It´s hard to imagine he even fits on that bed, to be quite honest."

"I don´t think he does," she says as they both laugh.

Timothée turns off the stove and grabs a few plates, handing it to Lois, who hops out of the counter to set them down. She grabs the coffee and a few mugs, places it down the counter too and then turns to watch as Timothée transfers the eggs to a nice little bowl.

She smirks at him as he carefully places it between the plates and then bows at her. She punches his arm playfully and steals a slice of bacon, stuffing it on her mouth as they turn back around, watching Armie as he walks out of Lois´ bedroom.

"Good morning."

"Good morning," he says a bit grumpy, scratching his neck and allowing his eyes to wander from Lois to Timothée. "Why is he wearing an apron?"

"Because he was cooking us breakfast."

"Tim!"

"What?" Timothée shrugs, taking a seat beside Lois on a stool. "You guys are being extremely nice to welcome me here while I get better, but there´s absolutely no way I´m gonna sit around and do nothing."

"I get that, but you´re here to rest and recover yourself."

"Look at me, Armie. You can barely see any bruises and my body doesn´t hurt anymore, I am alright and it´s not a big deal to make scrambled eggs and bacon."

"Fine, if you say so."

"Thank you." 

Lois chuckles, looking from one to the other and shakes her head, reaching for the coffee. Armie looks at her, an inquisitive look on his face that Lois shrugs off; he rolls his eyes, reaches for a plate and takes a bite of the eggs, his eyes widening.

"Oh, if I knew you were actually a good cook I wouldn´t have complained."

"Skate is not the only thing I am good at, Mr. Artist."

"I´m aware of that."

Lois chuckles, attracting the eyes of the boys. She looks at them for a second, a sweet smile on her face before she get up, pointing over to the couch where her bag is lying. "You know what? I want to stop by Steven´s house before going to work, so I should go now."

"But you barely ate anything."

"I´m not really hungry, but your cooking was absolutely superb, Tim. You should cook for us more often."

"Okay," Timothée practically whispers as he watches Lois run out of the house like a mad woman. He frowns and turns to Armie, who simply shrugs his shoulders and stuff more eggs on his mouth.

"Don´t even ask me, dude, I can´t understand her half of the time." Timothée chuckles, moving the fork around the plate, which causes Armie to look at him a bit worried. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I was thinking of stopping by the skate park today, I can´t stay away for too long, it´s my project after all."

"That might be a good idea, I´m sure Zac would like to see you."

"Yeah, the idea of me staying at my aunt´s house is not working anymore."

"You could always tell him the truth, I´m sure he will understand."

"I know he will, he has been nothing but a great friend to me all my life, but it´s still not easy to talk about this to anyone. That night with you, I was just so fed up and hurt, that everything came out all at once and I was lucky enough that you didn´t care."

"I care, I care a lot."

"I know, that´s not what I meant. I was talking about you not judging me or finding reasons why my mom and I are the real problem."

"Anyone who does that is an asshole. You and your mom are victims, and I meant every single word I said to you, I will help you get out of this."

"Thank you."

"Now, since you´re staying here maybe you could cook lunch and dinner too, right? I´m getting tired of Lois´ food, to be honest."

Timothée chuckles, shaking his head. "Then make your own."

  
  


***************

 

Timothée zips up his pants, his eyes scanning the bedroom one more time as if he actually had things there he could call his own. Spending the last four days with Armie and Lois had given him a new found energy, one he hopes he can use to tell Zac the truth and work harder to get him and his mom out of that hell they call home. Those four days showed him how it feels to be cared about, how it feels to have a supportive family; not that his mom can't provide that to him, because she can, but there's so much bullshit in their lives, he can't really expect her to be cheerful and talkative all the time.

He grabs his phone, puts it on his back pocket and heads out if the bedroom and down the hallway, looking around in search for Armie. He looks out the window, seeing the garage door open and heads to it, knowing Armie is probably trying to finish another one of his paintings. He leans against the door, smiles as he notices just how concentrated Armie is and even more as he realizes the piece is actually nearly done. Whatever was blocking Armie from finishing, seems to have disappeared.

"It's looking really good," he says as Armie turns to look at him over his shoulder. "Hey, I didn't mean to bother you, but I just came to say goodbye."

"What?" Armie asks as he gets up, placing the brushes down. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm going back home, Armie."

"No, of course not."

"Yes, I am."

"Timothée, that place is not safe to you. I won't let you get back there."

"I'm not asking for your permission, Armie, I'm simply letting you know that I am going back. I'm so thankful for everything you and Lois did for me on the past week, but I can't stay here anymore."

"Of course you can, Lois won't mind."

Timothée shakes his head, taking a few steps closer to Armie. "This has absolutely nothing to do with Lois, Armie. I need to go back home, I need to check on my mother and make sure she is alright. I promised myself I would protect her no matter what and that's exactly what I am gonna do."

"You're putting your life at risk, Tim."

"So what? Do I put my mom's life at risk?" Timothée asks, getting face to face with Armie. "Do you have any idea of how terrified I have been the past four days? How much I've wondered how she is feeling and if all the messages of  _ I'm okay  _ are real or if she's just trying to make me believe in her, like she did many times before I even noticed what he was doing to her?"

"Look, Tim...."

"She's my mother, Armie, and we promised we would keep each other safe. Maybe you can't understand this, you have always had an easy life, but believe it or not, things are not that easy for all of us."

"Don't say this," Armie nearly whispers. "You know that my life has not been a bed of roses, you know quite well that me and my family have a strange relationship and..."

"Oh, I'm sorry if your mom is a little disappointed that you didn't become a businessman like she expected. I'm sorry being emancipated at sixteen and going on a road trip across the country was tough for you."

"I'm only trying to help you, why are you treating me like this?"

"Because as much as you try, you don't understand the things I am going through, so stop trying to create easy solutions for it, because it won't work."

"Then tell me how I can help you, Tim! Tell me what to do,  because I can't have you being beat up by your father every damn weekend."

"Then maybe you should just stay away and let me handle this."

"I'm not gonna do that, Tim. I can help you, I can help you and your mom find a place to stay and..."

"We don't have money for that, Armie."

"I can pay. I can ask my parents to pay for it and maybe help with a lawyer, so you and your mother can..."

"I don't want your charity."

"It's not charity."

"Yes, it is."

"For fuck's sake, do you have to be so damn arrogant? Can't you simply accept the fact people care about you and want to help you?" Timothée sighs and Armie shakes his head. "I get that you don't want to be a sob story for people, but it's okay to be vulnerable sometimes and accept help, Timothée. But fine, you don't want my help? Go back to that hell you call home and get another beating from your father, I won't bother you anymore."

Timothée tries to say something, but finds silence to be the only reasonable answer at this moment. He stares at Armie, who keeps himself serious despite his eyes sparkling with the few tears that have formed there, sighs and nods his head slowly before taking a few steps back. He looks over his shoulder as he reaches the door, tries to come up with something to say once again, but there's a lump on his throat that stops him from saying anything, even if he knows he should.

He closes the door behind him, sighs once more and rubs his face. He tries to understand how everything turned upside down so quickly, how they went from laughing, playing guitar and washing the dishes together to nearly yelling on each other's faces, but right now nothing really seems to make sense. Timothée looks back, takes a deep breath and crosses the front yard, heading down the street with his head down and frustration taking him over.

 

 

[Venice Ink Spotify Playlist.](https://open.spotify.com/user/12177280852/playlist/2djlw0fjLxZaCYXR8HMHYs?si=yQ-sYqKdQKKzeANHo2EFnQ)


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bizarre love triangle?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A moment of happiness for Timothée (and Armie) amid all the trouble that goes into his life and I am sure you´ll all enjoy it.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 15**

 

Timothée lies quietly on the bed, his eyes stuck to the ceiling as he plays with his fingers. He's home for over twenty four hours now and has already found himself in a discussion with his father, although this time it ended with no bruises. He wishes he could see this as some sort of change, something he could hold onto to and be hopeful for the near future, but he knows he can't.

He reaches for his phone, scrolls through the contact list and thinks of sending a message to Armie, apologize for the things he said the day before and the way he acted, explain he didn't really mean to sound so harsh. He types a couple of things, bites on his lip as he stares at it and then sighs, deleting it all.

The sudden knock on the door startles him, but he remains quiet and still. Him and his mother already had a long discussion about their future, which was just as frustrating as every other one, so right now he just wanted to stay inside his room and mop around. The knock on the door persists though and Timothée sighs, looking back it.

"I don't want to talk anyone, mom!"

"Not even me," Zac asks as he opens the door and pokes his head in.

"Zac, what are you doing here?" He asks while sitting down on the bed and gesturing for Zac to come in.

"I came here to see my friend, what else would I be doing here?" He grabs the chair, taking a seat on it and sliding it closer to the bed. "I saw your text yesterday, but I had a few things to do at home and couldn't stop by."

"It's okay, dude, don't worry."

"How was it at your aunt's house?"

Timothée shrugs. "Quite boring, actually."

"Boring enough for you to get a black eye?" He asks as Timothée instinctively touches his left eye, a frown upon his face. "Yeah, it's still visible."

"I got in a fight while I was there."

"You got in a fight?"

"Is that so hard to believe?"

"Yes."

"Well, that's what happened, though. I grabbed my skate and decided to go around town a little bit, but this guys decided to pick on me, saying I wasn't welcomed there and when I refused to leave, one of them punched me."

"Why are you lying to me, Tim?"

Timothée arches an eyebrow, tries to play it cool, but his heart is pounding in his chest, his hands trembling slightly and he almost feel the sweat about to pour down from his forehead.

"What are you talking about, Zac?"

"I'm talking about the fact you've been keeping something from me for a while now. I'm talking about the fact you either think I am stupid for not noticing or you don't trust me enough to share your problems with me. I thought I was your best friend."

"And you are, Zac."

"Am I? Because you've been keeping something from me for months now and I feel like lately you've distancing yourself even more, probably scared of me figuring it out."

"I'm not hiding anything," Timothée says, his voice a little broken, the horrible lump in his throat suddenly back.

"You don't have to talk to me about everything that goes on in your life, Tim. But it would be great if you didn't feel the need to lie to me."

"I'm not lying."

"Really? Because I ran into Lois this morning and she said she had been with you two days ago and you were doing fine. One of you is lying, care to tell me which one it is?"

Timothée buries his face in his hands and sighs. When he looks back at Zac, his friend remains quiet, black eyes locked on him, waiting for an answer.

"I'm sorry," he finally says. "There is something I've been meaning to tell you, but I just can't find the strength to do so and I need you to know it has nothing to do with you, because I know you'd be here for me, it's just I can't do it."

"I'm worried about you, Tim."

"I know and I am really sorry about making you go through this shit, but know that I am trying my best here. I will tell you everything eventually, just give me some time, please."

"You know I'll always be here for you."

"I know and I thank you for that." He stands his hand out, to which Zac rolls his eyes. Timothée chuckles as his friend leans closer to a hug, patting his back as he does so.

"You look terrible, by the way."

"I feel terrible."

"Wanna go to a party and see if you feel a bit better?" Zac asks as Timothée arches an eyebrow. "Mark texted me saying he is throwing a little party at his place and I thought we could stop by."

"Mark? I don't know, Armie is probably gonna be there and the last time we saw each other it wasn't exactly nice."

Zac shrugs. "You don't have to talk to him if you don't want to."

"I don't know, maybe...," he trails off, biting on his lip as Zac stares at him, waiting for an official answer. "Okay, you're right. I need something to clear my mind and this party just might do the trick."

"That's what I like to hear. C'mon, let's go because I promised him I would stop by to buy him some drinks."

"You?"

"Me and my brand new fake id," he says as Timothée frowns. "What? You might have been on the downlow the past few days, but people still living their lives, boy. You ain't the center of the world."

 

*************

  


Armie is curled up on the couch, the television mere background noise as he stares into space, his fingers tapping on his knee. He can hear Lois moving around, he can hear cars honking outside, music playing in the neighbor's house, but to be quite honest, nothing has been able to catch his attention throughout the whole day, which caused him to move from his bed, to the couch and occasionally the bathroom.

"Hey," Lois says as she leans on the couch, her hand landing softly on Armie's shoulder. "Are you seriously gonna lie there for the rest of the day? It's Saturday night, I thought you would be out with the boys by now."

"I'm not really in the mood, Lois."

"It seems like you're not in the mood for anything today, huh? You spent the whole day dragging yourself around the house, quiet as ever and I am starting to get worried here."

"There's absolutely no reason for you to get worried, Lois, I'm just not in the mood."

"Does this have anything to do with the fact Timmy left yesterday?" Armie frowns, averting his eyes from Lois' gaze. "I'll take that as an yes."

Armie sighs, looks back at his cousin and scratches his head. "When he came to tell me he was leaving, I tried to tell him not to do so, but we end up having an argument and we both said pretty mean things to one another."

"Then get your ass up and go tell him you're sorry, Armie. You guys are friends and it's pretty clear you both care a lot about each other, but fights are normal and you shouldn't beat yourself up because of it."

"I know, but I still feel like an idiot for the things I said."

"And I'm sure Timmy feels the same way." She assures him with a smile. "If you think it's still too soon and he might not be ready to listen to you, at least go take a walk on the beach and get some fresh air. Mop around the house won't help you in any way."

Armie nods and Lois leans in to place a kiss on his forehead. He smiles up at her, a timid and barely there smile, but judging by how he looked during the day, it's quite a progress.

"I'm going out with Steve, I'll see you later tonight, okay?"

"Okay." She frowns and Armie shoots her a confused look. "What?"

"That's it? No _i don´t know what you see on that boring guy?"_

"Don't see the reason for that."

"Wow, you really are feeling this fight, huh?" Armie shrugs and Lois sighs. "Take my advice, cousin. Go out and get some fresh air, it will do you good."

Armie simply nods and watches as Lois, with a rather worried look upon her face, leaves the house. He slides down on the couch, head back on the arm and eyes stuck to the ceiling. He tries to relax his body, calm his mind enough for him to at least take a nap, but all he can hear is Lois' voice telling him to go out and do something.

With a groan, he pushes himself up, heads over to his bedroom and grabs his backpack, checking to see if all his equipment is in there before swinging it over his shoulder and heading out of the house. There's a cool breeze and the night sky is filled with stars, a perfect night for him to go around doing some graffiti. He feels his phone vibrate in his pocket, reaches out for it and bites on his lip as he sees the message from Mark.

 

 **_< idiot #2>_ ** _party at my place_

_we waiting 4 u_

 

A party. Maybe that's exactly what he needs to take his mind off of everything that happened between him and Timothée.

 

************

  


**//now_playing//** _Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order_

  


Armie throws his backpack underneath the staircase before wandering around the house. The party seems to be reaching it's peak, people dancing around the living room, drinks being passed around and spilled on the floor, people making out left and right; a typical teenage party like many he has been to before.

He takes a quick look around, trying to find his friends somewhere when he spots Timothée and Zac by the kitchen door. Of course he would be here, his best friend is cousin with the guy throwing the party, it's only natural and he should have thought of this possibility before actually coming.

Armie bites on his lip, takes on a deep breath and heads towards the two boys, waving at some people on his way over to them. He has his hands inside his pockets, a small smile on his lip and eyes that show just how apprehensive he really is. He doesn't even know why he feels so nervous to talk to Timothée.

"Hey," he says as Timothée and Zac look over at him.

"Hey, Armie. What's up?" Zac's voice is cheerful and loud, a perfect contrast to Armie's.

"I'm doing good, man. What about you?"

"Just peachy," he says with a chuckle before looking over at Timothée, who remains silent but with his eyes locked on Armie's. "I'll go get a drink, do you guys want anything?"

"No," they say in unison, causing Zac to mumble something as he walks away.

"Hey, I wanted to apologize for the things I said to you yesterday. You were absolutely right, I'm not the one going through this and as much as I try to help, I will never be fully aware of the struggles you and your mom are going through. I should learn to support you without telling you what to do."

Timothée sighs, biting on his lip as he takes a step closer to Armie. "I'm sorry too, you know..."

"There's no reason for you to be sorry, Tim, I was the one who was out of line."

"That's not true, Armie. I said horrible things to you too and I feel really bad about it. Everyone has problems, it's not my place to say my problems are bigger than yours or more important."

"They are, though."

"For me, yes, they are. But your problems with your family, not being heard by your mother or having to leave the house because you knew there you would never be able to be yourself, those problems are just as valid."

"No, they are not. I always had everything I could ask for, it's idiotic of me to..."

"Stop it, okay? Your problems are just as important as my problems. They are different, but so is everyone else's. We shouldn't belittle anyone's problems, they are all valid in their own way."

"Does that mean we are okay?" Armie asks, the first hint of a real smile coming to his lips.

"Yes, we are okay."

"Good, because I was feeling really bad with everything that happened. I felt like an asshole for telling you to go back to another...."

"Armiiiiiiie!"

They turn to the side in time to see Alex nearly jump on top of Armie, her slender arms wrapped tightly around Armie, her face buried on the crook of his neck as he awkwardly holds onto her waist.

"I asked Mark if you were coming, but he wasn't sure."

"I wasn't sure either."

"I sent you a couple of messages today, but you wouldn't answer. Is everything okay?"

"I just wasn't really in the mood for anything today, so I didn't even check my messages."

"Oh why? What happened?"

"I was just worried about someone, that's all," he says while stealing a quick glance at Timothée, who smirks.

"Oh okay." Alex looks over at Timothée, waving at him just as the music changes and a squeal escapes her. "Oh my God, I love this song. C'mon, let's dance."

"What?"

"Come dance with me, please." She says with a pout and Armie sighs, nodding his head slowly. "Bye Timmy, we'll see you around."

"Bye," he says as Alex pushes Armie with her to the middle of the dance floor.

 

 **//now_playing//** _Closing Time - Semisonic_

 

Timothée remains in place, his green eyes never leaving Armie and Alex, who dance in the middle of the crowded living room. It doesn't take him long to notice Armie is not really interested in the whole thing, his body is moving along with Alex's, but his face is the one of someone who's trying his best to find a way out of the situation he is in.

Armie swallows hard, trying to put on a smile on his face as Alex brings his face closer to hers and smiles broadly at him. He sighs, tries to tell his own brain he wants this, that he is enjoying his time with her, but his whole body betrays him. When Alex pulls him to a kiss, he instantly kisses her back, hoping this will spark some kind of fire inside of him and change the whole situation, but it only causes even more confusion in him when all he can do while kissing her is stare at Timothée, who is leaned against the wall across the room, his green eyes also locked on his.

  


************

 

It takes Armie more time than he expected to finally get rid of Alex, since every single time he tried to come up with an excuse, the brunette found something else for them to do or got overly excited about a song that was playing. He didn´t want to simply leave her all alone in the middle of the dance floor, so he waited and waited, until one of her friends showed up and their gossip distracted her from him.

Now, as he squeezes through the sea of people in the living room, trying to take a hold of his backpack so he can get the hell out of that place, he takes a few quick looks around the place, both to make sure he stays as far away from Alex as possible and because he can´t help but wonder where Timothée is.

Armie excuses himself as he walks through a little group of friends and leans down so he can reach underneath the staircase, where his backpack still lies. He takes a look inside, relieved no one has gotten anything from it and turns around as he hears a very familiar voice behind him.

"That´s a strange place to hide, don´t you think?"

He chuckles, a little unsure of how to act around Timothée after what happened in dance floor. "I´m not hiding this time, but I am ditching this party."

"Already? Your girlfriend won´t be happy with that."

"You know she´s not my girlfriend and I know damn well you have noticed I am not at all interested in her anymore."

"Oh yeah, that´s quite clear for everyone," Timothée says as he leans against the wall, arms crossed above his chest. "Well, maybe not to her."

"Yeah, that´s a problem."

Timothée shrugs, pointing over to the backpack. "Who brings a backpack to a party?"

"Someone who wasn´t coming to a party. I left the house to go do some graffiti, but then got Mark´s text and decided to stop by and see how it was going."

"That´s what you´re going to do now? Graffiti somewhere?"

"Yeah, although it ain´t that fun to do it alone."

"I´m sure your friends would love to go with you, they follow you everywhere."

Armie nods, a cocky smile on his lips. "Maybe, but I was thinking that maybe you´d like to tag along."

"Me?"

"Why not?"

"That actually sounds like a good idea. Where are we going?"

"You´ll see."

"Then lead the way, Mr. Artist."

Armie smirks and gestures for Timothée to follow him. They walk past the people dancing, jumping and making out, no one really giving a damn about them leaving the house, which is pretty much everything they wanted right now.

  


*************

  


"You do know the paint is supposed to be on the wall and not on your body, right?"

Armie's voice echoes in the quiet and dark streets, his blue eyes looking down at Timothée with amusement. The younger boy has most of his shirt stained with ink and yet, the corner he was supposed to paint remains mostly white. He watches as Timothée looks down at his shirt and hands, shrugs and then turns his attention back to wall, shaking the can of ink in his hands.

"I'm trying, okay? This is the first time I do something like this."

"Fine, consider this your first lesson then."

"You just really want to teach me stuff, don't you?" Armie shrugs, a little smile on his face. "Or maybe you're just finding excuses to be close to me."

"And why would I do that?" Armie teases, a smirk taking over his face now.

"That's a good question," Timothée starts, taking a step closer to Armie. "Why don't you answer that question yourself?"

Armie stares back at Timothée, their bodies inches away from one another. He smirks, looks Timothée up and down and then, with a quick movement splashes the paint on his brush on Timothée, who gasps and nearly jumps back.

"What the fuck?"

"What? I thought you were enjoying having paint all over yourself. Maybe you could roll around the wall later and make some abstract art on it."

"Jerk," Timothée says in between chuckles, punching Armie's arm playfully.

Armie sticks his tongue out, playfully kicks Timothée's leg and then turns back to the wall. He reaches down for a can, only to feel the pressure of the ink spraying on his back. He gasps loud, jumps to the side and looks at Timothée, who's crunched down laughing, with a glare.

"That was low, Timothée."

"Oh sorry, but I'm so clumsy I mistaken your shirt for the wall."

"Ha ha, very funny."

Timothée shrugs, but takes a few steps back as Armie glares at him. He watches as he shakes the can in his hand and shakes his head, raising his hand up in surrender. Obviously it doesn't work, because Armie quickly sprays Timothée's whole shirt with neon red paint.

"Now, that looks nice."

"That wasn't fair, Blowjob Guy."

"Oh, we're back to that now, huh?"

"You're asking for it."

"You're so full of shit," Armie says while laughing as Timothée shrugs. He takes a few steps closer to Timothée, about to grab onto his shirt when they hear someone shouting and a bright light headed to their direction.

"Hey, you two!" Armie and Timothée look back at the two police officers heading their way, then turn back to each other, wide eyes on their faces.

"You're not allowed to graffiti here, are you?" Timothée asks as Armie shakes his head.

"Run!"

"What?"

"Run," Armie screams, pulling Timothée with him as the officers run after them, shouting.

Timothée groans, trying his best to run as fast as he can, but he knows he has never been really good at any physical stuff besides his skate. He tries to take deep breaths and keep up with Armie, who's a couple of meters away from him already, his lungs begging for air, his legs trembling.

He stops at some point, leaning his hands down on his knees as he tries to breathe. He looks around him, seeing Armie is nowhere to be seen and the two officers are coming closer. _Fuck,_ he keeps thinking inside his head, trying to come up with a solution for this when suddenly he feels a hand on his arm that pulls him back and towards a narrow and dark alley.

His back hits the wall, his chest heaving as they watch the officers stop not too far from them. They look around the place, their flashlights dancing in the dark night as the boys keep themselves as quiet as possible, nearly holding their breath. When the two officers finally walk back, they burst out laughing, tears coming to their eyes and their stomach hurting from it.

They stop slowly, Timothée's eyes wandering to Armie's face. Only then he realizes how close they actually are, since Armie has a hand leaned against the wall, just above his head. He sighs, bites on his lip and watches as Armie closes the gap between them even more. Any more steps and they will be pressed together.

Armie wets his lips, his eyes traveling from Timothée's eyes to his lips, a shiver running through his spine. He can nearly feel Timothée's breathing on him, feel the heat of his body and that is strangely good and arousing to him.

They remain there, quiet and static for what seems like hours, feeling the energy that emanates from one another, hearing each other's breathing and staring into each other's eyes. Their lips move to say things, but both resort to remain silent, even if for just one minute more.

"Do you have any idea how much I want to kiss you right now?"

Armie hears the words perfectly, but his brain seems to be doing cartwheels and it takes him a while to actually process the meaning of them. Timothée is standing right in front of him, merely inches away to be exact, and he wants to kiss him. If he had heard those words any other day, he would think he was crazy and probably would runaway as quick as possible, but after the week they had, after what happened at the party. Armie couldn't deny anymore that he wanted the exact same thing.

"Then do it," he finally answers, his voice soft and low.

Timothée wets his lips, lets his hand rest on Armie's waist and leans on his tiptoes. His nose brushes against Armie's, he feels goosebumps all over his skin and when their lips finally touch, everything else around them seems to stop.

The kiss starts slow, both of them testing the waters, but it doesn't take much long for them to notice this is almost second nature. Armie cradles Timothée's face, his thumbs rubbing against his cheek as he deepens the kiss, their tongues now exploring the other's mouth. Timothée grabs a fistful of Armie's shirt, pulls him even closer to his body and allows a low moan to escape him when Armie pins him against the wall.

 

 

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the kiss....

**Venice Ink**

**Part 16**

  
  


Timothée is scared. Scared because as he is pinned against the wall by Armie's strong body, as he feels his smooth tongue brush against his and his lips devour him, he realizes that no girl he has been with has ever made him feel this way. His whole body tingles in excitement, his head spins whenever he feels the warmth of Armie's finger brush against his skin and the shivers that take him over are like nothing else he has ever felt before.

Armie on the other hand, has a sense of euphoria that seems to dominate him with every movement of their lips. A fire burns inside of him, his heart pounds in his chest and for the first time in his life he actually feels complete, he feels like himself and most importantly, he feels free. The kiss seems to trigger something deep inside of him, something he has been hiding even from himself all this time.

Their hands grip onto any skin they can find while their lips move together, their teeth grasping into one another's and their tongues fighting for control. It's only when air is strictly necessary that they actually pull away, chests heaving, lips shiny and swollen. They lean their foreheads together, but their eyes remain closed; they are basking on the moment, enjoying every single second of contact, realizing this is something they had been waiting for days now, maybe ever since they met.

Armie lets his thumb brush against Timothée's skin, traveling through every little corner, tracing every little freckle. He chuckles as he opens his eyes and notices the boy's cheeks is smeared with the ink from his hands, which in all honestly makes him even cuter than he already is. Although Armie is certain cute doesn't even come close to describing this boy's beauty.

Timothée sighs in contentment, his whole body relaxing at Armie's touch. He lets go of his shirt, runs his hands up his body, feeling every single detail of his muscular chest and then wraps his arms around his neck, his fingers brushing against the shaved hair. He opens his eyes, watches with a smirk as Armie licks his lips and then lets his eyes wander through every single detail on the older boy's face.  _ Fuck, he truly is gorgeous, _ is all Timothée can think as he is lost in those ocean blue eyes.

Words seem to lose their meaning at the moment, they both remain silent, unaware of which words can describe exactly what they are feeling. There's too much inside of them, too much feelings boiling up and ready to burst. As much as it was obvious for them that there was something bigger than friendship between them, neither one of them expected things to seem so intense with just a kiss. A kiss that seemed to bring out the best on them, a side of them that was hidden and begging to be released.

Armie smiles down at Timothée, one of his hands sliding down to the boy's waist and pulling him even closer. Timothée smiles back, leans closer and teasingly allows his lips to brush against his, only to pull away when he tries to actually kiss him. They both smirk, unable to let go of each other and desperate for more.

Timothée lets his finger trace Armie's face, pulls on his bottom lip and chuckles as Armie latches himself into him, burying his face in his neck, kissing and nibbling on the flesh there. For the first time in his life, Timothée is actually interested in a make out session and not just doing it because it's expected of him.

He tilts his head back, gives Armie all the space he can get and sinks his nails into his back when he nibbles on his ear and draws out a low moan that makes him blush a deep red. Armie looks at him with a broad smile, traces his lips with his finger and shakes his head, a warning that he shouldn't be ashamed of anything right now.

Timothée simply nods, pulls Armie closer and smiles as their lips connect one more time. Just like the first time, it starts slow, both of them savoring such different and yet almost familiar taste, before they give in to the fire that builds up inside of them.

 

**************

 

Their laughter echoes in the quiet house as Armie kicks the door close behind him, his arms tightly wrapped around Timothée's waist. He brushes his nose against the younger boy's neck, lets out a low grunt as his warm hands sneak inside his shirt and chuckles as Timothée pulls away, pulling on his bottom lip.

For someone who was embarrassed of a moan about half an hour ago, Timothée sure seemed a lot more confident right now. And Armie was absolutely loving it, he was loving to feel his lips, his hand and his slender and warm body pressed against his. It's funny that after all these years going out with random girls, having countless one night stands, it was with a guy that Armie felt more enthusiastic about a simple touch.

"We should keep ourselves quiet," Timothée whispers on Armie's ear, before landing a couple kisses on his neck. "Lois might wake up with the noise."

Armie pulls away, cradling Timothée's face on his hands. "Lois went out with Steve, she won't be home until later tonight or tomorrow morning. So we're safe, you can be as loud as you want."

"What exactly do you think we're doing that will cause me to get loud?" He asks with a smirk as Armie shrugs. "I think you might be thinking a bit ahead of yourself, dude."

Armie leans his forehead against his, his thumbs brushing against Timothée's cheeks and a smile coming to his face as he watches him close his eyes and lean closer to his touch.

"We're doing only what seems good for both of us," he reassures Timothée.

Yes, there's this intense fire that is consuming Armie like never before, a thrill to feel Timothée's body against his and to kiss his lips and his warm skin. But in all honesty, he knows damn well neither of them are ready for more than what they are doing now.

"You still got ink on your face."

"And who's fault is that?"

Armie smirks, kisses him quickly and then grabs his hand, leading Timothée to the kitchen. He searches for a clean cloth, wets it on the sink and then turns back around, smiling over at Timothée, who's now sitting on top of the counter.

He gets in between his legs, one hand resting on Timothée's thigh while he carefully cleans his cheeks and his chin. Timothée stares at him throughout the whole thing, green eyes attentive and a small smile on his face.

He wraps his legs around Armie's body, pulls him closer and takes a hold of his shirt. Armie looks down at his hands, then back up at him and watches as Timothée smirks.

"What's that dirty look you got there, boy?"

"Dirty? I don't know what you're talking about it." Timothée says as he grabs onto Armie's chin and pulls him closer, his lips brushing against his for a minute.

"You're the teasing kind, huh?"

"Maybe. I guess we'll have to find out together."

"I'm looking forward to that, actually."

"Are you?"

Armie nods, pushes some of his curls behind his ear and then lets his lips touch Timothée's again. The more they kiss, the better it feels and Armie is pretty sure he is already addicted to the taste of the younger boy.

 

****************

 

There are shirts and jeans scattered on the bedroom floor, the sheets are falling down the bed and their heavy breathing is echoing throughout the whole place. On the bed, legs tangled and bare chests pressed together, Armie and Timothée lose themselves in a heated and passionate kiss, their hands roaming through each other's chest, back, abs and shoulders.

They have done nothing other than that, lie on the bed, hug and kiss, stare at one another and count the freckles or the admire each other's eyes. None of them has ever felt such thing, the need to be together, the desire to share body heat and to learn every single detail about the other. None of them has ever felt so connected with someone, so drawn and hypnotized by each other's beauty and personality.

It's hard for either one of them to understand things now, but they simply want to be together.

Armie's hand grabs onto Timothée's thigh, pulls him closer to him and allows his lips to travel down the younger boy's neck and shoulder. They grind their bodies together, nails sinking into each other's flesh, drawing moans from one another. It's all so intense and reinvigorating, so new and yet so familiar, almost as if this was what they were waiting for their entire lives. And maybe they were.

Timothée cradles Armie's face, brings it closer to his and places quick kisses all over his face, going through his nose, his eyes, his cheeks and then finally his lips. He feels Armie's fingers knot on his curls and runs his tongue through Armie's lips, a signal that he is indeed enjoying all of this. Timothée has never felt so aroused by anyone, he has never wanted to be with someone the way he wants to be with Armie and damn it, it feels great to know Armie feels the exact same.

Armie rolls around on the bed, kicking the sheets to the ground and hovering on top of Timothée. He stares down at Timothée with a smile, brushes their noses together and leans down for yet another kiss, but he is interrupted when the door opens wide and Lois stands there with her mouth hanging open.

"Fuck," they both groan, Armie doing his best to cover their semi naked bodies somehow.

"I... I... Sorry, I'm leaving," she says quickly before slamming the door shut. 

Armie and Timothée look at one another, a loud laugh escaping them both. Armie buries his face in Timothée's neck, feels the soft touch of his hand on his hair and then sighs, pushing himself up.

"I'm gonna go talk to her," he says as Timothée nods. He reaches for his pants, puts it on as fast as he can and then leans down to kiss Timothée one more time before he can head off the bedroom.

Armie looks around the corridor, notices Lois' bedroom door is open and takes a peek inside, only to find the place completely empty. He hears noises coming from the kitchen and makes his way over, scratching the back of his neck as she looks at him from the fridge.

"I forgot we have a rule of locking the door whenever we have someone with us," he says nonchalant, to which Lois raises an eyebrow.

"Are you serious right now? You're gonna act like I didn't just walk in on you and Timmy making out half naked on your bed?"

Armie sighs, leaning against the counter, a slightly worried look on his face. "Is this a problem to you?"

"A problem?"

"Yes, I mean, are you disgusted by us or something?"

Lois stares at him for a second, a frown upon her face. "You really think I'm that type of person, Armie?"

"I don't know, Lois. Sometimes we don't even think about things until it happens to us. Do you think I  imagined I would ever kiss a guy? Because until a few days ago it had never crossed my mind and right now I can't wait to go back there and kiss him again."

Lois bites her lip, but can't help but smile. "I'm not gonna lie and say it's not a bit surprising to see this actually happening, but never in my life would I be disgusted by seeing two people being happy together. I don't care about the structure of the couple, if they care about each other and want to be together, that's what matters."

"Okay."

"You don't have to worry about me, okay? I'm here for you guys, just remember to lock the door next time, because the last thing I need is seeing you naked."

Armie chuckles, nods his head and walks over to his cousin, giving her a quick but tight hug.

"Thank you."

"I'm glad you finally found someone you care about, Armie." She winks at him, places a kiss on his cheek and smiles as he does the same to her.

Armie lets out a sigh of relief as he walks down the hallway, happy that at least Lois is on their side. He opens the door, only to find Timothée asleep on the bed, his hands clinging onto the spare pillow. Armie smiles, reaches for the sheets that have fallen off and pulls it with him as he gets into the bed. He covers them with it, lets his arm wrap around Timothée's waist and buries his face in his neck as he closes his eyes, a smile on his face as he slowly drifts off to sleep.

  
  


****************

  
  


The sounds of birds chirping outside fills the entire room while the Sun light comes in through the white curtains. Still asleep on the bed, Timothée is on his back, a peaceful expression on his face as he lets out a heavy sigh, followed by a yawn. His eyes open slowly, flashes of last night filling his head as he takes one quick look around the room. He smiles to himself, lets his eyes wander down to his body and bites on his lip as he notices Armie has a tight grip on his waist.

Timothée moves slowly to his side, does his best not to wake up Armie and bites on his lip as he stares at the older boy. There's this undeniable masculine beauty to Armie, but there's also a softness to him, which Timothée is pretty sure not everyone can see, but is exactly what attracts him to the guy. Armie is more than what's on the surface, more than his beauty and his body. His art says a lot about him and Timothée is happy that he is getting a glimpse into his soul.

He hesitates for a second, but can't help himself and lets a finger trace Armie's hairline, stroke his cheek and softly contour his eyebrow, only to pull away the moment Armie moves. He presses his lips together, waits a couple of seconds and then gets back to it, his tongue tracing his own lip as his finger moves along Armie's. That's when the grip Armie has on his waist tightens and Timothée freezes in place, his eyes wandering from Armie's hand to his face.

"There's no need to stop," he mumbles softly while opening his eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Don't apologize. This is a nice way to wake up, actually."

Timothée smiles, his hand moving to Armie's shaved head. He studies his every expression, closes his eyes and sighs as Armie presses their bodies together, bites on his lip as he feels Armie's warm hand slide down his back and his finger brush against the waistline of his boxers. They stare at each other, chuckle and Armie pulls Timothée in for a quick and sweet kiss on the lips.

"Can I tell you something?" Armie nods and Timothée leans their foreheads together, a sigh of contentment escaping him as he feels Armie's hand against his skin. "I can't even remember the last time I had such a peaceful night of sleep, where I didn't worry about anything or anyone."

"Because of me?"

"Does that scary you?"

"That you are so comfortable here with me that you forgot about all the problems you have at home? No, that doesn't scare me at all, I'm actually happy I can be that person to you."

Timothée can't help but smile, but that soon disappears. As he cradles Armie's face, feeling the in growing stubble, Timothée can't help but let his mind wander. Last night was incredible, a night where he felt cared about and free, a night like nothing else he had ever gone through. But what did it all mean?

"What? What's wrong?"

"What does last night mean to us?"

"It means whatever we want it to mean."

"Care to be a little more direct?"

Armie chuckles, rolling them over on the bed so he's hovering on top of Timothée. He pushes some of his curls back, smiles down at such a beautiful face and such insightful eyes. This boy is the perfect mix of softness and intensity, and Armie is more than willing to get lost in him.

"I like you, Tim. I like you more than I ever liked anyone else and I'll be honest with you, I hardly even know how to navigate this but I am willing to try and build something here. As long as that's what you want too."

"Nice answer," Timothée says with a smirk and Armie chuckles. "How many girls have heard that speech, though?"

"None." Timothée shoots him a look and Armie sighs. "I'm serious here, okay? I never even spent the night with any of the girls I hooked up with, let alone commit myself to building a relationship with them. You on the other hand...."

"Why me? Why me out of all the beautiful girls that are always surrounding you? Why me when you have Alex?"

"Because it's you I like," Armie says matter of factly. "I have not stopped thinking about you ever since we met, Timothée. There's always the thought of you creeping up on everything I do, which is scary as hell, but also extremely exciting. I feel good around you, I feel like everything is easier and funnier with you around, but if that's not what you feel or..."

"You have any idea of how many times I have fallen asleep thinking of you on the last three weeks?" Timothée interrupts and Armie smiles. "You have any idea of how many times I have stared at your phone number and debated on whether or not I should text you and how many times I left the house hoping I would run into you?"

Armie wets his lips, million emotions going through his eyes as he leans down and kisses Timothée with all his will. He holds tightly onto his waist, feels his slender arms wrap around his neck and traces the tip of his tongue on Timothée's lips, who gladly opens his mouth and lets him in.

They pull away flushed and breathless, their shiny lips curving on a little smile. Armie buries his face in the crook of Timothée's neck, his fingers knotting on the soft curls. He places a couple of kisses on the boy's neck, his hand squeezing his waist slightly.

"What you say we go after something to eat? I'm starving."

"I think that's a great idea, actually."

Armie stands up, holds his hand out for Timothée and smiles as the boy gladly takes it and pushes himself up. He turns to leave, but feels Timothée's hand pull him back and looks over his shoulder, an eyebrow arched.

"What?"

"Would it be nice if we actually put on some clothes, right? At least some pants."

Armie chuckles, nods his head and reaches down to the floor, grabbing their jeans. He looks at it closely, hands one to Timothée and steps back, arms crossed above his chest as he watches Timothée get dressed. When Timothée looks up and notices Armie's stare, he frowns, which instantly makes Armie smirk.

Timothée rolls his eyes, punches Armie's chest and then perfectly reproduces the older boy's movements, watching with a smug look upon his face as Armie puts his jeans on. He winks at Armie, smiles and then takes his hand, allowing Armie to lead him out of the bedroom and down the hallway towards the kitchen.

Lois is already sitting by the counter, a mug of coffee in her hand as she goes through the newspaper. Armie clears his throat, getting her attention and takes a quick look at Timothée over his shoulder when she smiles wide at them.

Timothée bites on his lip, this whole situation a little bit new and embarrassing, even if he can already tell Lois is okay with them. He sits down beside Armie on a stool, thanks him as he hands him a mug and then turns back to Lois, who's got her chin leaned against her hand.

"Lois, please stop staring at us."

"I'm sorry, but you two are just so damn cute."

"Thank you," Armie says almost as a whisper. "But seriously, stop."

"Fine, I need to leave anyway."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm spending the day with my mom, she wanted us to go shopping, maybe watch a movie and I thought it would be nice to catch up, get familiar with the family gossip."

Armie chuckles, but quickly turns serious, causing both Lois and Timothée to look at him confused. "Fuck, I totally forgot I had told dad I would go to the game with him and Viktor."

"You can still go," Timothée says with a shrug, but Armie shakes his head. "The game is on the afternoon, Armie, you have plenty of time."

"Maybe," he says while landing a hand on Timothée's back. "But I really don't wanna go, I rather spend the day here with you."

"Oh my God, it's so cute it's almost sickening." Lois mocks as Armie shoots her a look. "I don't know what you're doing to him, Tim, but keep on doing. Have never seen this boy so smitten."

"I thought you were leaving?"

"I am and I hope you two have a good day," she kisses both of their cheeks and then grabs her bags, heading to the door. "But please don't have too much fun, I wanna get back home to everything in its place and without the neighbours complaining about the noise."

"For fuck's sake, Lois, just go."

"Bye," she screams from the door as Timothée laughs and Armie rolls his eyes.

"So, what are we gonna do today?"

Timothée shrugs, taking a few sips of his coffee. "I'm down for whatever you are."

"Oh really?" Armie asks with a smirk.

 

****************

 

"No! Oh c'mon, no no no."

"Oh, you're so done."

"Oh, for fuck's sake."

Armie laughs, leaning back against the couch as he watches a frustrated Timothée groan and throw the console down on the floor.

"You're really bad at this, it's incredible."

"No, I'm not. You're just mean and barely gave me a chance to react."

"Oh, so you thought a couple of kisses and I would let you win?" He teases as Timothée turns to face him. "I'm not mean, I'm just impartial."

"No, you're just mean."

"You want a rematch? I promise I will be a little less cruel to you."

"I don't want your pity," Timothée says while leaning back on the couch, a pout on his face and his arms crossed.

"So sentimental, what have I got myself into it." He says while climbing on top of Timothée, his hands leaned against the couch on each side of Timothée's head. He looks down, watches as he wets his lips and smirks. The mix of embarrassment and passion clear on his green eyes, a look that makes Armie smile sweetly down at him.

He cradles Timothée's face, pulls him closer and lets their lips touch in a heated and hungry kiss. He feels Timothée's hands on his waist, his body heating up with the contact, his tongue exploring every single inch of the boy's mouth. He would gladly remain in this moment for the rest of his life.

Timothée moans softly, a hand grabbing onto Armie's shirt while the other holds onto his arm. He feels Armie's fingers on his hair, playing with the curls, pulling on it slightly and his whole body seems to light up. He pushes his hips up, feels himself grind against Armie at the same time their kiss intensifies and then bites on Armie's lip as they slowly slide down to the floor.

Armie hovers on top of Timothée, a hand sliding inside his shirt, feeling his bare skin. He can feel the goosebumps, the light trembling and smiles through the kiss, his hand sliding further down. He stops the moment Timothée takes a hold of his hand and pulls away.

"Stop, please."

"Sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push you into..."

"No, it's okay."

"No, it's not. I should learn not to..."

"Armie, this has nothing to do with you," he says as Armie looks at him confused. "I mean, it has, but not the way you're thinking."

"I'm lost."

Timothée chuckles, cradling Armie's face. "My whole body burns when you're close to me and believe me when I say I want that, I'm just not sure this is the time."

"Okay, I get that."

"I'm sorry."

"Why you saying sorry? It's okay."

"You're used to..." He stops as Armie sighs and rolls over to the floor, his blue eyes staring into the ceiling. "What?"

"I'm kind of scared too, okay? I know everyone may think I'm all about the sex, but I know how to be with someone without the need to fuck. Also, this is as new for me as it is for you and I like you a lot, so I want to make it right."

"You are doing it right, Armie."

"This is just day one," Armie says with a chuckle. "Give me a few weeks and we'll get back to that."

Timothée chuckles and shifts closer to Armie, leaning his head on the boy's chest. He sighs, a smile on his face as he feels Armie's arm wrap around his waist.

"So, do you want that rematch or not?"

 

***************

 

Timothée skates down the streets, the sun setting on the horizon and the wind blowing on his face as he smiles wide, the freedom that always comes while he is skating combined with the giddy happiness that has consumed him since the previous night. Giving in to all those feelings he had boiling up inside of him, that fire that took him over whenever Armie came close, that was probably the best decision he had made in his entire life.

The taste of his lips, the way he held him with those large hands of his, his smell and his eyes, everything made Timothée feel weak on the knees and for the first time in his life he actually understood all that crap he used to see in movies. Before he met Armie, the idea of liking someone so much that you feel stupid around them, or that someone could indeed make your heart beat faster seemed like bullshit; before Armie, the only thing that made his heartbeat accelerate for real was the fear of another beat up.

He zigzags a little, looks over his shoulder and smiles as Armie pedals down the road, hands off of the handle and a huge grin upon his face. Timothée bites on his lip, looks back ahead and bends his knees before doing a couple of tricks. He stops by the pier, takes the skate in his hands and leans against the wooden rail, taking in a deep breath, the ocean breeze always succeeding to bring peace and a smile.

Armie stops beside him just a couple of seconds later, his cheeks a bright pink from the wind and the exercise. He hops off of the bike, lets it fall to the ground and joins Timothée, who's now sitting on the floor, legs dangling off of the structure. He takes a quick look around the place, which is strangely quiet for a Sunday evening, and lets his nose brush against Timothée's neck. He chuckles as the younger boy shivers and then squeezes his thigh.

"Stop it," Timothée says trying to control a moan from leaving him.

"You don't really want me to stop, but alright."

"What? You can read minds now?" Timothée asks with a smirk, their faces mere inches away from one another.

"No, but I can see it in your eyes. Besides that moan you were trying to hold gave it away."

Timothée pushes him, laughing a little as Armie nearly jumps on top of him, stealing one quick kiss before sitting down straight. They stare at the ocean in complete silence, smiles on their faces and a peaceful expression, unaware to anyone else that might walk past them, their hands rest on the asphalt, their pinkies touching.

"You think your friends are gonna be okay with us?"

"I hope so, otherwise it's gonna be very disappointing to find out they are not the people I thought they were." He steals a quick glance at Timothée. "I'm more worried about you, though."

"Why? I don't think Zac will have any problems with us. I actually think a part of him always knew I had this issue when getting involved with girls and..."

"I'm not talking about Zac, Timmy."

"You're talking about...," He stops when he finally realizes where this conversation is going.

"The things you told me about him, he's not gonna like this at all and I am scared of what he might do to you when he finds out."

"He doesn't even care about me, Armie, so there's no need for me to tell him anything. Also, I would really like if we kept any conversation about him to a minimum. One of the good things about being with you is forgetting about all the problems, I don't want to bring that into what we have going on here."

"Okay, that's fair, but...."

"Of course there's a but."

"But don't keep me in the dark about your problems. When things happen, please talk to me and allow me to help you somehow. You don't have to go through these things alone."

Timothée smiles, bumping his shoulder against Armie's. "I'll do that."

"Good."

"Good."


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rumors, suspicions and breakups.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our boys are diving into the relationship face first, which means a lot of fluff for us, but doesn´t necessarily mean the angst is over. Hold on tight guys, we still have a long way to go :)
> 
> *Link for the Spotify playlist, which has been updated is at the end of the chapter.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 17**

  
  
  


Timothée stuffs his skate inside his backpack as he makes his way inside the school building, bumping shoulders with a couple of people and groaning as some of his books fall down to the ground. He kneels down to pick it up, places a couple of papers back inside one of them and gets up, feeling someone's eyes on him. He looks around, watching as one of the stars of the soccer team throw him a look and frowns, slightly confused. Sure, he isn't exactly popular, but he has never actually been made a target.

He shrugs it off, fixes the strap of his bag and heads to his locker, placing his things inside as best as he possibly can. He takes a quick look at his phone, bites on his lip as he doesn't see any messages from Armie, but then realizes it's probably a bit too early for him to be awake anyway. He ponders on whether or not to text him something, wonders if he will look too eager, too clingy, but after the day they spent together, he doesn't really think Armie would freak out about it.

 

 **< timmy>** _its been 8 hours since i saw u last_

_      and somehow i already miss u _

_     pathetic right? _

 

He chuckles to himself, puts his phone back on his pocket and zips up his bag, swinging back over his shoulder before he can close his locker.

"Fuck," he curses as he sees Zac standing there, a smile on his face and his arms crossed. "You seriously gotta stop doing this, dude, it's fucking creepy."

"You're the one who gets distracted easily, Tim."

"You're hiding behind my locker and you're gonna blame me for getting scared? Are you for real right now?"

"Don't be such a drama queen, dude." Zac says as he grabs onto Timothée's shoulder and pulls him with him down the corridor. "So, what happened to you on Saturday? Did Armie get sick again and you had to help him?"

Timothée scoffs, the memories of Saturday night taking over his brain. "I had to bail, Mackenzie showed up and she was still kind of pissed about the last party, so she wanted to talk and..."

"And?"

"And I was a bit tired actually, so I went home and just got some good night of sleep," Timothée says a bit annoyed with himself for lying to Zac once again, even if he isn't completely lying. It was indeed a great night, it just wasn't at his house nor he was alone. But that wasn't exactly a conversation for them to have at school.

"What about yesterday? I called you in the morning, wanted to see if you wanted to go to the beach, but as usual you didn't pick up."

"Look, I know I haven't been the best friend I am supposed to be, but there are some things going on in my life and I'm just trying to get my head around everything before I can tell you, alright?"

Zac shrugs his shoulders, playing with the straps of his backpack. "I can't force you to tell me things if you don't want to, Tim. I can only assure you that I will be here for whatever you need."

"I know that, Zac."

"So take your time, talk to me whenever you feel ready."

Timothée nods, checks the clock on the wall and then turns back to Zac. "Look, I gotta to go to biology class, but maybe we could go eat something on the pier after class? I'm craving one of those burritos they got there."

"That's fine by me," Zac says while patting Timothée's shoulder. "I'll see you later, dude."

"Don't forget you're paying."

"Excuse me?"

Timothée simply shrugs and laughs as he sees Zac flip him the bird. He raises his thumbs up, winks at his friend and then quickly goes up the stairs, waving at some of his classmates. Once he walks inside the classroom, Timothée can once again feel eyes on him, which leave him a bit uneasy and confused. He sits down on his usual chair, places his books on top of the desk and watches from the corner of his eyes as some guys look at him up and down.

 

**************

 

**//now_playing//** _ How You Remind Me - Nickelback _

 

The music plays loud on the empty store, the doors wide open, welcoming the sun light and the ocean breeze. Sitting behind the cashier, Armie sketches something on a paper while listening to Paul's frustrated groans and sighs from time to time. He looks over his shoulder, frowns as he sees his boss and friend bury his face in his hands, but then turns his attention back to his sketch. He is aware the record store isn't on it's best days, but he also knows Paul has a ton of other business and that his father is going through a tough time, so before he can freak out over potentially losing his job, he's gonna wait until he knows what is going on.

He bites on his lip as he leans closer to the paper, his hands move fast, adding more details, tracing a better line on the eyes and on the hair. He starts doing some shadow work, enhancing some parts to make it all more lively; this drawing deserves all his attention and he plans on making sure this is one of his best work yet. He raises the paper, takes a better look at the thing as a whole and smiles to himself. It's his own work and many would say his bias, but it truly is a beautiful sketch he's got there.

_ Not as beautiful as he is _ , he can't help but think, which makes him chuckle. How can he be so into this guy that he suddenly became this giddy boy who can't think of him without smiling? It's like he is a damn high school girl from the movies, who's just found her first love. And maybe that's the moment Armie actually realizes that although he is clearly not a girl, Timothée is the first person he actually has feelings for. If it's love, he still isn't sure, but it's something strong, there's no doubt in that.

"Nice sketch. Who's the guy?"

Armie looks back startled. He got so focused on the drawing and his own thoughts, that for a brief moment he completely forgot he was not alone at the store. He looks from Paul to the drawing, bites on his lip and tries to figure out what to say. No one besides Lois actually knows about them and he isn't even sure of what word could define their starting relationship, so he simply shrugs and goes for the safest answer.

"Just a friend of mine, actually."

"Jake and Mark are gonna be jealous when they know you're out there drawing this friend of yours, but never did one of them."

"Who says I didn't? Just because you haven't seen it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

"Fine, Armie. If you think you can fool me, go ahead and do it."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," Paul says with a smug look upon his face. He reaches for his keys on the holder, grabs his jacket and then turns to Armie, a stern look now taking him over. "I'm going to the bank, you take care of everything here and try not to make a mess."

"Yes boss," Armie says while saluting him, which makes Paul roll his eyes. "After two years one would think you´d  trust me a little bit more."

"I do trust you, but I also know you, Armie. You're impulsive and that can cause damage sometimes."

"Jesus, what you think I'm gonna do? Throw a party here?"

"It's kind of a great place for it, isn't it?"

Armie chuckles as he watches Paul walk out of the store, greeting Jake as they meet by the door. He pushes the papers and pencils to the side, hops off of the stool and walks over to his friend, performing their usual handshake.

"What you doing here so early?"

"Was bored at home, decided to go out do something."

"You might consider getting yourself a job, Jake."

"Says the employer of the month."

"I'm always the employer of the month here, dude." Armie teases as Jake chuckles and throws himself in one of the armchairs.

He walks over to the boxes piled up on the corner, starts opening them up and checks on the new albums they just received. He collects a couple of them to put on display, separates some to fill up the place for the ones which have already been sold and then takes the newest Red Hot Chilli Peppers album, taking a good look at it before showing it to Jake, who simply nods.

Armie trades the cd's, turns up the volume a little bit and then moves over to the racks, fixing the cd's. He looks over his shoulder at Jake,  who's flipping through a few magazines and bites on his lip, debating on whether or not to have this conversation right here and now. He wants to talk to Jake about what happened, explain how fucking excited he truly is about him and Timothée, but there's this little bit of fear inside of him. Fear that he won't understand, fear that he will feel uncomfortable being friends with someone who likes guys.

Is true he knows Jake his entire life, they're childhood friends, but Armie has heard way too many stories not to question his friend's reaction.

"Hey, you want some help with those?"

"Huh," Armie asks confused.

"You want some help with those? I'm not doing anything, might as well help."

"Sure, you can start opening the boxes."

"Okay, I'll just go get some water."

"Suit yourself, man."

Jake pulls himself up, looking through a couple of records before making his way over to the office. He stops by the cashier, notices the papers lying on the counter and takes a few steps closer to it. On the top of the pile there's a huge sketch of a boy, which doesn't take him long to figure out it's Timothée. He takes a good look at it for a moment, then his eyes wander back to Armie, who oblivious to his friend's stare, works on the cd's.

 

**************

 

Thousands of teenagers walk down the hallways as the school bell rings, most of them rushing out of the building as fast as they possibly can. Struggling to fit everything into his locker, Timothée loses himself in thought, trying to come up with the right words to tell Zac everything that happened. A part of him knows his friend would never turn his back on him, but there's still a shiver that goes down his spine every time he even imagines how crushed he would be if Zac actually walked away from him, if he ended up their conversation mad and disgusted with him.

He takes a quick look around, seeing as a few girls whisper things to each other while staring at him and sighs, pushing everything inside his locker and slamming the door shut. He barely has time to process anything when Zac storms by and grabs his arm, dragging him down the corridor and out of the school building. Timothée looks at him confused, holds tight onto his backpack and simply follows Zac until they are about a block away from the school.

"Care to tell me what is going on? Or you're just that desperate for that burrito?"

Zac stops and turns to face Timothée, who stares at him with a frown. "There's a rumor about you going around school and I don't know how much you know about it, if you even do, but I felt like I should be the one to tell you."

"A rumor? Is this why everyone keeps staring at me during class and around the halls?"

"Probably. I noticed some whispers and stuff, but didn't pay much attention to it until Mackenzie came to ask me if it was true or not."

Timothée feels his heart pound on his chest and his mouth go dry. He's pretty sure he knows what is this rumor and he is in no way ashamed of what he is doing, but to have people talk about it behind his back is frustrating and angering. Fuck people and their inability to keep themselves quiet about other people's lives.

"What is the rumor, Zac?"

"Someone saw you at the pier yesterday afternoon and they claim you were kissing another guy."

Timothée sighs, sits down at the sidewalk and stares at his hands. He isn't exactly sure of what to say right now, but he knows this wasn't the way he wanted Zac to find out about him and Armie.

"It was Armie, wasn't it?" Zac asks as he sits down beside Timothée, bumping their knees together. He watches as Timothée looks at him a bit surprised and simply shrugs his shoulders. "I'm not stupid, Timothée."

"When did you...."

"The day you met him," he says before Timothée can even finish. "It was pretty obvious even back then that you two had bonded in a different way than the rest of us. There was something about the way you looked and talked about each other, something that made me realize it wasn't just a friendship, there was something more."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I wanted you to feel comfortable enough to tell me what you were feeling or what was going on."

"So, you're not disgusted to have a friend like me?"

Zac frowns, leaning a bit closer to Timothée. "Why would I be disgusted, Tim?"

"Because I'm...because I'm going out with a guy?"

"Timothée, I know you basically my entire life and I've seen you struggle to find any girl that you would find attractive. I also noticed how uneasy you were whenever any girl got too close to you or showed interest in something more than a kiss. It's been a while since I wondered if there was a chance of you being gay, then Armie showed up and I kind of knew for sure."

"You noticed it before I did."

"Did I? Or you always knew and you were just too scared to let it out?"

Timothée shrugs, hugging his knees. "I honestly don't know. Sometimes I thought about the possibility, but I got so scared of feeling that way, I always told myself I was just overreacting and the only problem with me was the fact I had not found the right girl yet."

"And what made you realize the truth?"

"The right guy," Timothée says as he turns to look at Zac and they both laugh.

"You look happy, by the way."

"I am."

"When did it all start? Jake's party?"

"In a way, yes. We spent the whole night together that day, talking and sharing a bit more about our lives, we watched the sun rise and went for breakfast together. It was something I had never experienced before and I was left so peaceful and relaxed. I also couldn't stop thinking about him, I wanted to be with him, talk to him and it seemed like he wanted the same. But nothing actually happened until this Saturday."

"That's why you disappeared from the party."

"Yeah," Timothée nods, a wide smile on his face.

"I'm happy for you, okay? And I'll be here for everything you need."

"Thanks, man. I was a bit scared of you turning your back on me, but deep down I knew I could count on you."

Zac rolls his eyes, wraps an arm around Timothée's shoulder and smiles at him. "I'll never turn my back on you, Timmy. You're my best friend and I love you the way you are."

"I love you too, man."

"Just know that I don't need to know anything in detail, okay?"

"Okay," Timothée says in between chuckles.

  
  


*************

  
  


The skate park is already packed when Armie shows up, his blue eyes scanning the place in search of Timothée. He smiles sweetly when he sees the younger boy by the main wall, laughing as he helps Zac scrap the last remains of the old paint. He has lost count of how many times he has felt like a total fool for blushing or simply smiling widely by the mere thought of Timothée, but he can only assume that's what happens when people actually have feelings for someone else. Maybe Lois feels this way when she sees Steve, maybe to him he is nothing but a boring guy, but to his cousin he could be the light of her life.

Armie pushes those thoughts back, places his hands in his pockets and with his long legs, quickly crosses the skate park, nodding at some people who wave and smile at him. He clears his throat, watches as Timothée and Zac turn to him and bites on his lip, unsure of how to react. Does he leans in and kisses Timothée? Does he hug him? Do they pretend nothing is going on? What is the protocol they will follow when in front of other people? There's still a lot to be discussed.

"Hey, sorry I'm a bit late, but there was a lot of work at the store."

"There's no need to worry, there's enough people here to get the work going."

They say those words with their eyes stuck on one another, ignoring everyone else's presence. The smiles on their faces and the blushing of their cheeks though, could make even the most unaware person realize there was something going on.

"Subtlety isn't really your thing, is it?" Zac asks with a chuckle as Armie and Timothée turn to look at him with frowns on their faces. "I can see you guys are trying to look cool, but you're failing miserably."

Armie chuckles, scratches the back of his neck and lets his eyes wander from Timothée to Zac. "I guess you already know everything."

"I do and just so you know, if you ever hurt my friend, I will in fact hurt you." When Armie starts laughing, Zac simply shakes his head, a serious look on his face. "I'm not joking."

"Oh, okay."

"I might be smaller than you, Armie, but I have my ways."

Timothée looks at his friend confused, arms crossed above his chest. "And what exactly would be your ways? Throw a skate at him and hope it hurts?"

"Maybe."

Timothée rolls his eyes and then turns to Armie, who watches the exchange between the two friends with a smile on his face. He takes one step closer to Armie, his hands aching to touch the older boy, his body desperate to be pressed against his; his eyes wander to his shiny lips, which he has been missing for hours. Everything in him wants to be as nearest to Armie as possible, yet doing it so right there at the skate park, right in front of everyone seems a little too soon and if he is being honest with himself, a bit too risky.

Armie does the exact same, wetting his lips as he lets his eyes wander through Timothée's face, learning every single freckle that decorates his skin. They are close enough to touch, but it's now obvious there's an unsaid agreement that any display of affection won't happen right now. Armie is okay with this as he is still learning how to navigate this whole new thing, but he can't deny the disappointment of not being able to cradle Timothée's face and kiss him deeply, like he has been dreaming about for hours.

"Jesus Christ, you two are ridiculous," Zac says in exasperation, shaking his head as he once again gains the boys' attention. He shoves the scrapping tool on Armie's chest, rolls his eyes and points over his shoulder. "Have this and help him out with the scrapping, that way you can keep doing whatever it is your doing right now. I'll go work on the benches."

Armie laughs as he watches Zac storm out, then turns to Timothée. "Is he always like this?"

"Kind of crazy? Yes, he is."

"How was the conversation with him? I mean, clearly it went well, but..."

Timothée shrugs and along with Armie goes back to scrapping the wall. "He practically knew everything already. Some things he noticed by hanging out with us, some others he find out through a little rumor that's been going around school."

"What are you talking about?"

"Someone saw us yesterday at the pier and talked about it at school."

"Tim, I'm sorry, I didn't want to put you through..."

"Don't even finish that sentence, Armie. Is not your fault someone decided to spread things about me at school, besides I don't really care about all this."

"You don't?"

"Do you care what people say about us?"

"No," he answers rather quickly, only to sigh and shrug right after. "To be honest, I don't really know. This is all so new to me, I'm still trying to understand what I feel or think."

Timothée nods quietly, bites on his lip and turns his whole attention to the wall once again, adding an unnecessary amount of force to the task at hand. The whole thing doesn't go by unnoticed by Armie, who nudges him softly and smiles as Timothée looks over at him.

"Hey, I know that I like you and I want to be with you. But you have to understand that until a month ago, I had never imagined myself being with a guy and suddenly I can't stop thinking about you. Besides, I know the world isn't a fairytale and not everyone is gonna be okay with us being together."

Timothée sighs, but nods his head. "Just so you know, I'm still learning to deal with all of this too. There was this part of me that probably always knew the truth, but actually acknowledging it and doing by diving into a relationship straight away is quite daunting. Long story short, I know what you're feeling."

Armie smiles and nudges Timothée one more time; if this is the only type of physical contact they will have in public for now, he will take full advantage of it.

"Good to know we're on the same page."

Timothée nods and while he moves his hand up to scrap some of the paint, he allows his hand to brush against Armie's, a sly smile on his face as he keeps his eyes straight ahead.

 

**************

 

The sun is about to set, but the skate park remains filled with people. Some are still working hard, some have left to get some food and others have taken a quick break. Armie and Timothée are sitting by the larger bowl, Armie's legs dangling back and forth while Timothée hugs his legs, his chin leaned against his knees as he carefully hears every single word that comes out of Armie's mouth.

They have been sitting there for a couple of minutes, as close as they can possibly be, sharing anecdotes about their lives and making each other laugh. Timothée can almost feel his eyes sparkling as he watches Armie speak, the enthusiasm he puts in every word, in every story he tells; no wonder people are always gathering around him, he captivates everyone with his eyes, his childlike smile and his stories.

Armie is talking seemingly effortlessly, using his whole body to tell his story, but his eyes are lost in Timothée eyes and his curls. His eyes shine bright and the green seems even more prominent, his rebellious curls fall down his face, tangle themselves in his eyelashes and bounce from side to side as he laughs. Armie finds it almost impossible to keep himself concentrated, but Timothée is so damn amused by his story he needs to go on.

With a sigh, Timothée looks around the place, his need to reach out and touch growing with every second that passes them by. He sits down straight, moves a little closer to Armie and watches as the older boy smiles down at him, in his eyes the clear understanding of what Timothée wants. He bites on his lip, feels Armie brush his finger against his and then chuckles at himself. He is so enamored, he has never felt so stupid.

A good kind of stupid, but still stupid.

"Hey, Armie!"

They both turn to look over their shoulders at the sound of Armie's name being called. The high voice, the excited tone, before he can even spot her in the crowd, Armie already knows it's Alex. He sighs, aware that this is the moment he has to step up and have a serious conversation with her, end whatever they had together. He looks back at Timothée, who's looking down at his hands by now and nudges him softly, just enough to get his attention.

"I'm gonna go talk to her, we have some things to solve. But maybe we could meet tonight?"

"I have a test tomorrow and I wanted to study a little bit."

"You can study at my place."

Timothée chuckles, shaking his head. "I highly doubt there would be much studying, Armie."

"I promise you I will let you study, I might even help you."

The look on his face makes it pretty clear he is joking, there is absolutely no way he would be able to simply sit there and let Timothée focus on studying. Specially when they have spent most of the day away from one another.

Timothée stares at him for a good minute, then rolls his eyes and nods his head, which makes Armie smile broadly. "Fine, I'll stop by your place once we're done here for the day."

"Really?"

"Really. But I'm staying for only an hour or so, I seriously got things to do and my life doesn't revolve around you."

"One hour is all I need," Armie winks and Timothée laughs, pushing him away.

Timothée watches as Armie gets up and does the same, his eyes wandering to Alex, who waits for Armie. She waves at him and he waves it back, only to turn back to Armie right after it.

"Go talk to her, I'll see you later."

"I'll be waiting for you," Armie smiles and slyly lets his finger brush against Timothée's before he runs over to Alex, waving at Zac on his way to her. "Hey, I'm glad you showed up."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. We need to have a serious conversation."

"Is everything alright?" She asks a bit worried, following Armie down the street. Her green eyes wander him up and down, noticing the tension that has taken him over. Alex has never seen him this way.

Armie doesn't answer her question, mainly because he is too caught up in his own thoughts, trying to figure out the right words to say at this particular moment. Is true him and Alex never had anything serious, they were allowed to go out with other people, but still they had some sort of agreement between them and now Armie had to be the one to end it.

"Armie, you're scaring me a little bit."

"I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention at all. I'm just trying to come up with the right thing to say to you." Alex nods, a small smile showing up on her lips. "The past year we've been in this crazy little thing I don't even know what to call and I want you to know that I had a lot of fun and I enjoyed every single moment with you, but it's time for us to end this thing."

"You're breaking up with me?"

"Not exactly, since we never actually dated, but yeah."

The surprise and confusion in Alex's face is easy to detect while her green eyes study Armie, trying to understand where this is all coming from. "But why? You said yourself we always had fun together. Why the sudden change?"

"Because I met someone I really like and..."

"Armie, we were never exclusive."

"Alex, you don't get it. This isn't about sex or hookups, this is about me actually having feelings for someone and trying to do my best to build a relationship."

Alex simply stares at Armie, million expressions going through her face as she tries to process what Armie just said. Anyone who knew Armie knew he wasn't the relationship guy, he had never had a girlfriend and before his arrangement with her, he barely even saw a girl he hooked up with more than once. So maybe she was naïve, maybe she fooled herself, but she thought that if one day he decided to try a relationship, it would actually be with her.

"Alex, you okay?"

"Wow, that's a lot to take in." She finally says, sniffing away some of her tears. "I'm not gonna lie, Armie, whenever I thought of you actually dating someone, I was the someone."

"I'm sorry, Alex."

"No, don't be. You never lead me on or anything, you were always honest with me."

"And that's why I am here talking to you, because I wanna be as honest as possible with you about this whole situation. I didn't want to simply ignore your texts and your calls, pretend I don't know you. I wanted to treat you right."

"Thank you for that," she says almost in a whisper. "Who's the girl?"

_ Not a girl,  _ he thinks to himself as he shrugs. "That is not important right now."

"This girl has caused you to actually try out a relationship, Armie, I'd say she is important."

Armie sighs. He knows it would be easier to simply say everything, after all curious people can be dangerous, but he knows it's not the time nor the place. First him and Timothée will talk and discuss how open about their relationship they will be, then he can tell others.

"I'm just trying to respect my privacy here, Alex. Right now knowing who...who she is doesn't matter."

"Okay, if that's what you want."

Armie smiles, a hand resting on Alex's shoulder. "Thank you for being so understanding."

She simply shrugs. "I like you a lot, Armie and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit disappointed, but I'm happy you finally found someone you actually have feelings for. I hope you're happy."

"Me too. I mean, I hope you're happy too."

 

*************

 

Armie opens the door and immediately has his arms wrapped around Timothée's body, pulling him incredibly closer to him and kissing his lips. It's a sweet and slow kiss, with the innocence of finding your first love and with a hint of the common teenager eagerness. He smiles through the kiss as Timothée takes a hold of his shirt with one hand, while the other gently strokes the nape of his neck. Armie feels complete when he has him on his arms, he feels relaxed, happier and more inspired.

"Well, that's a nice hello."

Armie shrugs. "I missed you, so I couldn't control myself much longer."

"Did you talk to Alex?" Timothée asks as he closes the door behind him and follows Armie to the couch.

"Yes, I did. It was actually a lot easier than I expected, she seemed to understand everything very well, although she didn't deny the fact she was a bit sad."

Timothée nods, plays with his fingers and then dares to look at Armie, who's sitting on the other end of the couch. "Are you sure you're not gonna regret any of this? Or that you're willing to face all the ugly stares that will come our way?"

Armie frowns, scotches closer to Timothée and lets his hand rest on the boy's thigh. "Timmy, I really like you and I have never felt this for anyone else in my life. You're the first person I actually want to be with, who I want to see and talk to every single day. Sure, there will be people out there that won't like it, they will give us ugly looks, make jokes behind our backs, but I am willing to go through all of this if you are."

"I am, although it scares me to know there's people out there who are gonna hate us for simply liking each other. It doesn't seem fair."

"Because it's not, but it's our lives and we are allowed to live it the way we want to. And we want to do it together, right?"

Timothée nods, a small and unsure smile on his face. He feels Armie's hands around his body once more, buries his face on the crook of his neck and laughs as the older boy lies down on the couch, bringing him with him. Timothée stares down at Armie, a proper smile taking over his face now and lets a finger trace the slightly darker patch of skin on Armie's face, just where his beard is starting to grow.

"What's with the backpack?"

"Did you forget?" Timothée asks, which causes Armie to arch an eyebrow. "I told you I had to study and you said you would help me. How good are you in physics?"

"Are you for real?" Timothée nods and Armie groans before leaning in to kiss his lips. "Okay, I ordered some pizza for us, so how about we go through this physics thing while eating?"

"I'm not gonna go through one page of this book, will I?"

"If I play my cards right, and I usually do, no you won't."

Timothée rolls his eyes, but giggles as Armie kisses him again and then takes a hold of his hand, leading him towards the kitchen.

 

 

[Venice Ink Playlist on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/12177280852/playlist/2djlw0fjLxZaCYXR8HMHYs?si=chgzI_uIS1uE7v8FlR7_VQ)


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In love? Maybe a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaand we have artwork...  
> The lovely stmonkeys worked on a little something after last chapter, a representation of Armie´s sketch about Timmy and you can check it out on their tumblr. I´ll post the link at the end of the story, so take a look and see how beautiful it is :)

**Venice Ink**

**Part 18**

  
  


**//now_playing//** _Something - The Beatles_

 

Armie's golden skin is marked by the Sun. His shoulder in particular is covered with tiny freckles that paint his skin a tone darker and draws Timothée's full attention. As he mumbles the lyrics to the song, his lips also trace Armie's shoulders, placing tender kisses all over the sun marks. Armie's skin is warm, salty and his scent is even more intoxicating from up close.

Timothée snuggles closer to Armie's body, his nose brushing against the skin under his jaw, behind his ear and down his neck. The little shivers that run through Armie, the goosebumps that cover his arms, they all bring a cheeky smile to Timothée's lips. None of the very few girls he has been with has ever complained about him, but he won't lie and say he ever got from them the same reaction he gets from Armie. One simple touch is all it takes and the older boy surrenders to him. Timothée feels powerful and confident knowing he can cause such things in a boy like Armie.

When Armie's hand starts to trace his arm, it's his turn to feel goosebumps. He closes his eyes, takes in a deep breath and can't help but feel a tingling that goes from the tip of his toe all the way to the back of his neck. He tangles their legs together, feels Armie's hip press against his crotch and his cheeks immediately turn a shade brighter as he notices the light bulge that is starting to grow inside his boxers.

He hears a chuckle, looks up at Armie and the look on his face is enough for Timothée to know he has also felt it. He bites down hard on his lip and looks down, only to have Armie lift his chin and kiss him softly on the lips. It's almost as if the kiss is telling him is all good, that Armie understands him. And Timothée knows he does. He slides a hand up to Armie's face, cradles it and only pulls away when he is in desperate need for air.

Armie stares down at Timothée with loving and caring eyes, eyes of someone who desires and wants to protect someone all at the same time. Timothée has never felt safer than he does at this moment, sprawled in bed with Armie, his friend, his boyfriend. Armie places a couple of kisses on Timothée's shoulder, laces their fingers together and then smiles as the boy goes back to burying his face in his neck. Nothing has ever felt so perfect to him, they are like puzzle pieces.

"Your skin is so warm," Armie finally says, earning a chuckle from Timothée. "It really is, warm and soft. Then there's your arms which are surprisingly strong, your hair which is silky and shiny, your lips that are thin but so damn red and just invite you in. But your eyes are the best part, to be honest."

"And why is that?" Timothée asks, his voice muffled.

"Because they are so psychedelic," he starts and Timothée looks at him confused. "They are green, but then they seem brown and with just the right light they become golden. It's beautiful to see."

"Are you high?" Armie chuckles and Timothée brings their hands up, kissing the spot where they come together. "But I actually really liked every single word you say."

"Good, because I meant every single one of them."

Timothée smiles, leans in for a brief kiss and then sighs, resting his head on Armie's chest. His finger traces the skin there, the little spots where a couple of chest hairs are threatening to grow, but all Timothée can think of is the hardness of his body, how strong Armie looks and yet how gentle he always is.

"I should go," Timothée whispers after a few minutes of silence.

"What? Of course not."

"I have school tomorrow, mister. And a test, which I should have studied for but didn't because someone kept distracting me."

"Admit it, you loved to have me distracting you."

"Maybe, but if I fail my test tomorrow you're the one I am blaming."

"Fine, I can live with that." Armie leans in to place another kiss on Timothée's shoulder, this time noticing a mark. "What is this from?"

Timothée sighs, his body going rigid and his mood dropping almost immediately. "He threw a clock at me once and it cut me, after it healed I was left with the mark."

"Timothée..."

"Armie, don't." He cuts in before Armie can even think of finishing his sentence. "Yesterday I told you I didn't want us talking about him and I meant it. You're my safe place right now and when I'm here with you, I want it to be only about you, me and us. No one else, especially not him."

Armie remains in silence for a moment, but then nods and pulls Timothée in for a tight hug. He knots his fingers on the boy's curls, places a tender and long kiss on his cheek and then leans their foreheads together, one finger tracing Timothée's lips.

"I promise you I won't bring him up anymore, unless you want to talk about him."

“Thank you," Timothée says with a smile and places a kiss on Armie's lips. "Now I really gotta go."

Armie chuckles, tightly wrapping his arms around Timothée's waist, forcing him to stay exactly where he is. "You're not going anywhere, boy. I'm keeping you hostage for the night."

 

**************

 

Armie leans against his desk, arms crossed above his bare chest and a bright smile on his face as he stares down at Timothée, who still lies peacefully on the bed. His curls are falling down his forehead, his lips are pursed and his freckles are slightly more accentuated due to the sun light that comes in through the window. He wants to stare at those freckles, count each one of them and memorize the exact spot of each one of them. Armie wants to know every little thing about Timothée.

He pushes himself away from the desk, takes a quick look at the clock and then crawls back in bed. He rests a hand on Timothée's waist, pushes some of the hair away from the boy's face and places light kisses on his cheek. Timothée shifts on the bed, but remains on the same spot as before, mumbling something Armie can't really comprehend. He chuckles, leaves a few more kisses down Timothée's cheek and then moves to his neck, which causes the younger boy to let out a little tired moan.

"Wake up, Timmy."

"Leave me alone," Timothée mumbles in a grumpy voice, sinking his face into the pillows. "Let me sleep."

"You gotta wake up, Tim." A groan echoes and Armie sits down on the bed, turning Timothée's body towards his. He traces his finger through Timothée's stomach, chuckling as he squirms around on the bed and curls himself into a ball. "You're gonna be late for school, Timmy."

Timothée opens an eye, frowns and pouts. Mornings are clearly not his thing. He pushes some of his hair back, rubs his eyes and then sighs as Armie lies down beside him, his large hand holding tight onto his waist.

"What time is it?"

"You have enough time for breakfast, but that's about it."

"Maybe I can stay in today."

"Don't you have a test today?"

Timothée groans, leans in to kiss Armie and then pushes himself up, sitting on the edge of the bed as he searches for his clothes on the messy bedroom floor. He puts his jeans and shirt on, throws his plaid shirt over his shoulder and then gets up, jumping around the room in one foot as he tries to find the missing foot of his sneakers. He finally finds it under the desk, puts it on quickly and only then notices Armie has been staring at him, arms behind his head and a goofy ass smile on his face.

"What you looking at?"

"Just enjoying the show. Are you always like this in the morning?"

"Pretty much," Timothée says with a shrug. "You'll soon find out I am not a morning person."

"I am looking forward to find out more about this and many other things."

"You might learn about some things you won't like, to be honest."

"That's okay, I'm sure it will be the same with me." Armie says as he sits up on the bed. "I'm not always this charming guy, you know?"

"But you're always very full of yourself, that doesn't seem to change."

Armie chuckles, pushes himself up and takes fistfuls of Timothée's shirt, pulling him closer to him. They stare at one another for a moment, smiles taking over their faces before they both lean closer and allow their lips to touch in a slow and tender kiss.

Timothée wraps his arms tightly around Armie's neck as they back up until he is pressed against the desk. He smiles through the kiss as he hears some things falling, but doesn't dare to break the kiss, not even for a quick look. He feels Armie's hand slide inside his shirt, feeling his warm skin and bites on his bottom lip, opening his eyes to stare back at Armie when he hears his soft moan.

Armie nestles himself in between Timothée's legs, the thin fabric of his briefs not really hiding what is going on down there. He thinks of pulling away, unsure of what exactly Timothée will think, but when he feels the boy's hands slide down his back and stop just above his ass, he figures they are both on the same page here.

"Breakfast," Timothée whispers out of breath when they pull away. "We should go grab breakfast."

"You're right, you can't be late for school."

"No, I can't."

"I wish you could though."

"So do I."

Armie smiles, cradles Timothée's face for one more kiss and then grabs his hand, leading him down the hallway. Lois is sitting by the couch as they make it to the living room, a plate with eggs and a toast on her lap, a mug of coffee pressed against her lips and her blue eyes attentive to the television, where something about a robbery is going on.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, love birds."

Timothée chuckles as Armie rolls his eyes and shakes his head at his cousin. He takes a quick peek at the television, frowns and then sits on one of the stools as Armie slides a mug towards him.

"Why is she watching this so early in the morning? Is kind of depressing."

"One thing you'll soon find out about Lois is that she loves criminal shows."

"That's...interesting."

"I think the word you're looking for is creepy, but yeah." He says as Timothée chuckles, pouring some coffee for both of them.

 

**************

 

The hallways are nearly empty as Timothée runs inside the school building, his skate in one hand and his backpack on the other. He turns lefts and rights, takes the steps two at a time and tries his best to dodge anyone that passes him by. Of course that doesn't always works and suddenly his whole body is pushed back as he slams his shoulder against someone else's.

He stumbles back a couple of times and groans loudly, but manages to prevent himself from falling to the ground. He shakes his head, swings his bag over his shoulder and once he finally looks up, he is face to face with an extremely angry Jacob, one of the stars of the soccer team and the biggest douchebag that has ever walked the streets of Venice Beach.

"Watch out where you're going, fag. I don't want people like you touching me."

Timothée frowns, thinks of a million different things he could say it back right now, but he knows it's not worth it. People like Jacob do not deserve his attention, besides he is already late for his test and he won't let a moron like him ruin this for him.

"Watch where you are going, jackass," is all Timothée says before walking past him, making sure to bump shoulders again. He thinks of looking over his shoulder, checking to see if the boy is coming after him, but he focuses on the last door on the hallway, the classroom he should have been in for almost ten minutes now.

He knocks on the door, hears a soft voice echo and opens it, a small smile on his face as he walks in. "Timothée, thought you had forgotten about us."

"I'm sorry Ms. Fernandez. Can I still take the test?"

"Lucky for you we're just about to start it," she says while handing him a sheet of paper. "Go take your seat."

"Thank you."

She simply nods and Timothée rushes down the class, nearly throwing himself on his usual chair. He sighs, reaches for his pencils and leans back, trying to relax himself a little bit. He feels a finger poke his shoulder and turns to the side, cocking his eyebrows as Zac looks at him.

"Why are you wearing the same clothes you were....," he stops for a minute, frowns and then leans a bit closer to Timothée. "You spent the night at his place?"

"Do you seriously want to talk about this right now?"

"You did, didn't you?"

"I thought you didn't want to know the details," Timothée mocks as Zac pretends to shiver in disgust.

"Okay class, you can start the test now....."

  
  


*************

  
  


The voice that comes from the other side of the line is soft and slightly broken, a clear mix of disappointment and sadness. Armie doesn't really remember the last time he had ever heard his mother sound like that, probably when he was still a kid, and it nearly breaks his heart. He knew how much dinner was important to her, how badly she wanted to see him again and instead of making an effort, he stayed home with Timothée.

And honestly, he doesn't regret that decision since every single second with Timothée is worth it, but he can't deny the fact he is disappointed with himself for making his mother go through this.

"....but I think you're not ready to come back here after everything that happened the last time."

"Mom, I know you're probably mad and frustrated at me right now, but I can guarantee I wasn't trying to lead you on. I was going to dinner with you guys, I was going to the game with dad and Vik, but something happened and I had to stay home."

"I miss the time this was your home."

He sighs, pushes his bike into the little bike rack outside of the diner and waves at Mark and Jake, who watch him through the windows. He locks his bike, stuffs the key inside his back pocket and then leans against the wall, eyes up to the sky as he bites on his lip.

"You know the reason why I left, mom. But that doesn't mean I hate you and dad, like you always thought I did. I love you guys and because I do, I know we work better separate."

"What kind of family works better separate, Armie?"

"Mom, I promise you we'll reschedule and we're gonna have a nice and fun night together. Is that okay?"

"Sure."

"When do you think we can do this?"

There's a long pause, which is definitely not typical of Julie Hammer, but Armie resorts to pushing any suspicious back. 

"I don't know, you know how much work your father has at the company, it might not be easy to reschedule."

"Is he working that much? I mean, I know he has always been a bit of a workaholic, but it seems like now it's a bit too much."

"He has a few issues to solve, but it's nothing important, sweetie. Nothing for you to worry about." Armie mumbles something and he can hear his mother moving around. "I'll call you later and we'll reschedule, is that okay?"

"Okay, I'll be waiting then."

"Now go have some fun, I'm sure you have some pretty girl waiting for you."

Armie chuckles, turns back to the glass window and shrugs. "At this moment, only two ugly guys who are stuffing their mouths with fries."

"Say hi to Jake and Mark for me."

"You even got Mark's name right. Mrs. Julie Hammer truly is trying to change."

"Everything for you, sweetie."

"Have a good day, mom. Call me when you have a new date for the dinner."

"I will."

Armie hangs up the phone and shoves it inside his backpack aa he walks inside the diner. He waves at Jake's mom as she stands behind the counter, then slides down on the booth beside Mark, stealing one of his fries. He chews on it, frowning as he hears the last few bits of a conversation that doesn't really make any sense.

"...but that's all I know so far."

"What are you talking about?" Armie asks as he turns to Mark.

"Oh you haven´t heard yet?"

"Haven´t heard what, Mark? Just fucking tell me."

"There´s a rumor going around that Timothée is gay."

Jake leans back on his seat, his brown eyes wandering to Armie. He watches carefully as his best friend sits down straight, his whole body suddenly tensing up and his eyes blinking repeatedly. Jake knows Armie well enough to know that this usually happens when he is worried or scared.

"Oh..."

"Oh?" Jake repeats, cockying an eyebrow. "That´s all you got to say?"

Armie frowns, leans closer on the table and shrugs his shoulders. "What exactly do you want me to say, Jake? I couldn´t care less if Timothée is gay or straight, he´s an amazing person and that shouldn´t change what we think about him. Right?"

"You don´t have to get all stressed out on me, Armie. I´m not trying to talk shit on Timothée or anyone else, I simply thought if anyone would know about this it would be you."

"Me? His cousin is Timothée´s best friend, why would I be the one to know anything about this?" 

"Because you´ve been spending a lot of time with him and you seem quite close, so I thought he might have talked to you about it."

"Well, he didn´t." Armie simply says before turning back to Mark. "How exactly did you find out about this rumor?"

"Oh, a friend of mine who goes to the same school as Timmy and Zac told me." Armie nods and Mark shrugs. "Apparently, there has always been a little buzz about the subject since he has never been in a relationship or barely showed up with any girls, this incident on the pier happened only to prove their suspicions."

"Do they know who the other guy is?" Jake asks, eyes wandering from Armie to Mark.

"Nope, apparently they couldn´t really see his face and..."

Armie sighs, takes a few more French fries and stuffs in his mouth, chewing aggressively as he thinks of what must be going through Timothée's head right now. Not only he has his own family issues to deal with, but a rumor that started at school is now taking over the whole beach and he seriously doesn't deserve that.

  
  


**************

 

Timothée shuts the door close behind him, placing the backpack on the hanger beside the door as he takes a quick look around the house. He spots his mother on the kitchen, her head down as she washes some dishes, completely unaware of his presence. He smiles, quietly makes his way over to the kitchen and tickles his mother, who gasps and jumps away from him.

"Stop it," she says between chuckles as Timothée leans against the wall and grabs a cookie from the jar on the counter. "Where did you sleep last night, mister?"

"At a friend´s house."

"A friend?" She asks arching an eyebrow, a little smile on her lips as Timothée shrugs. "C´mon, Timothée, you know you can tell me everything."

"I know that, mom."

"And I have noticed a brighter smile on your face the past few days, so I know there´s a girl involved in this story. Right?"

Timothée bites his lip, his eyes wandering around the kitchen as he debates on whether or not he should talk to his mother about this subject. He knows she wouldn´t react in a negative way about him being with a guy, but he doesn´t know if she would be able to keep it to herself and there´s absolutely no way his father can know about this. Not until he is far away from that house.

"So? Are you going to tell me?"

"Can I tell you once I am sure of where this is going?"

"So there is something going on?"

"Yes, there is something going on, but I would rather not talk about it right now."

Eleanor takes a step back, her eyebrows arched, but a smile on her face as she looks at Timothée up and down. "I know that look, mister. You´re in love."

"Mom, please stop."

"You are, I can see it in your eyes."

"No, you can´t."

"Yes, I can. That smile that won´t leave your face for anything in the world and the sparkle in your eyes? I know how it looks like when you´re in love and you definitely are."

"Okay, maybe I am a little, but..." He stops as the door opens and his father walks in, dragging himself through the house. He watches as he disappears in the hallway and when a door slams close, a shiver runs down his spine, his whole body tensing up.

"I´ll go talk to him."

"Mom, please don´t go."

"He might need my help, Timmy."

"He doesn´t need anything and we both know what will happen if you go there right now." Eleanor sighs and nods her head, a smile coming to Timothée´s lips. "I´ll be on my room, call me if you need anything, okay?"

"I will."

Timothée pulls her closer to him, placing a loud kiss on her cheek before he runs over to his bedroom, closing the door behind him. He throws himself on his chair, swirling around as he waits for the computer to turn on. He stops when everything is running, the msn page already open and Armie´s name popping up on the screen.

 

**< armandoeldestructo>** _ meet me at our lifeguard stand  _

_        tonight at 8pm _

 

Timothée bites down hard on his lip, but doesn´t do much to suppress the huge smile that comes to his lips.  _ Our lifeguard stand _ , those three words are enough to make his whole body warm and his heart beat faster. They have something that is only theirs and he couldn´t be happier about this.

  
  


*****************

  
  


The beach is empty and dark, the clouded sky and agitated ocean signaling that rain it´s on the way and judging by how long it´s been since the last one, it promises to be a big one. Secluded on their lifeguard stand, Armie and Timothée don´t care about anything other than each other and the moment they are living right now. It´s hard for either one of them to actually pinpoint the last time they have been this happy or felt so free.

Timothée has his arms wrapped around Armie´s neck, who holds tightly onto his waist as they stumble around the wooden structure. They chuckle between pressed lips, pull each other closer, allow shy little moans to echo every time they rub against one another´s crotch. 

Armie slides his fingers inside Timothée´s curls, loving the feel of it in between his fingers and pushes him against the rail, his lips tracing down his neck for a quick minute before he pulls away completely.

Timothée sighs, his hands resting on Armie´s torso, feeling his heartbeat and the heaving of his chest as he tries to catch his breath. He licks his lips, smiling as the taste of Armie lingers there and closes his eyes for a brief moment, savoring the feeling. When he looks at Armie again, he is staring back at him with a sweet smile on his lips and his blue eyes sparkling more than anything Timothée has ever seen.

"I went out for burgers with the guys earlier today, they already about the rumor. Apparently it's no longer only in school that people are talking.” Armie says as he presses his forehead against Timothée´s, his fingers pushing some of his curls behind his ear.

"Who told them?"

"Some guy at your school is friends with Mark and he probably knows he is Zac´s cousin, so he told him." Armie says as Timothée sighs. "How you're dealing with this?"

"Can you please not worry about this? This is not a big deal."

"Of course it is, Timmy. People are being mean to you and making jokes behind your back."

"I have gone through a lot already, Armie. It´s gonna take more than an idiot soccer player calling me a cocksucker to make me feel bad about myself, especially when I know I´m not doing anything wrong. So please, don´t worry about me."

"You shouldn´t have to go through any of this."

"Life ain´t easy, I´ve learned that the hard way but it gave me thicker skin. So please, please, stop worrying about me."

Armie sighs, stealing one quick kiss before he nods his head. "I´ll try my best."

"Trust me when I say I won't let this affect me, okay?"

“Okay. Oh, there's something else I almost forgot to tell you.”

“What?”

“After hearing about the rumor, Mark now thinks there might be something going on between you and Zac."

Timothée sits on the wooden rail, his eyes going wide as he hears the thing crack. He chuckles, shakes his head and then takes a hold of Armie´s shirt, pulling him closer.

"Tell Mark his cousin is as straight as they get."

Armie frowns and takes a step back, so he can look at Timothée properly. "Have you ever had a crush on Zac?"

"What? You´re jealous of my best friend?"

"You didn´t answer my question."

"To be honest, I think Jake would be more like my type and...," he stops as Armie shoots him a look, which makes him laugh and roll his eyes. "No, I´ve never had a crush on Zac."

"You can tell me if you had."

"Oh Armie, for fuck´s sake." He laughs and pulls Armie down, kissing him softly on the lips and smiling as he feels his hands on his thighs. "Did you call your mother?"

"I did and it was quite weird, to be honest."

"Why?"

"There was something about her voice, I could tell she was really tense and that doesn´t happen very often. My mom is very collected, she doesn´t show much unless things don´t go the way she planned, then she kind of has a breakdown."

"Aren´t you exaggerating a little bit, Armie?"

"No, I´m not. This is the exact reason why we had so many problems, because what I wanted for me diverted from what she expected of me, from what she had planned and she didn´t know how to deal with it, which resulted in us fighting constantly." He sighs, his hands rubbing up and down Timothée´s thighs. “And while she was on the phone with me today, I could tell she was trying to put a facade, that she wanted me to believe everything is okay, but I know there´s something wrong going on."

"Why don´t you go there and talk to her? She might tell you what is going on."

"You clearly don´t know Mrs. Julia Hammer, Timmy." Armie shakes his head, but smiles as he feels Timothée´s hands caress his arms. "My mom grew up in a very conservative home, where feelings weren´t explored, maybe even seen as weakness. She would fight me for not following the path she had planned for me, but she would never sit down and tell me exactly what she was feeling, what are her fears and insecurities."

"Then maybe your brother can help?" Armie scoffs and Timothée frowns. "What? You told me you two got along."

"We sometimes do, but with Viktor is always hard to tell what I´m gonna get. It´s either the little brother who misses me, or the one who´s still angry at me for leaving."

"What are you talking about?"

"When I left Viktor was only thirteen and in some ways I think he blames me for putting an unnecessary amount of pressure on his shoulders. While I was there, even if we all knew he was the one who had the incling for business, the one who would love to sit down with dad and hear about his day of work, he was still the baby brother, the one who after me would take care of things. But then I left and he was left with the burden to make the family proud, to carry the family name and make sure the business remained successful."

Armie sighs, his blue eyes wandering around the beach for a good minute before he turns back to Timothée, who's looking at him with a reassuring smile. 

"It was never my intention to make him feel this way, to put so much pressure on his shoulders. I was simply doing what felt right for me, for my own sanity, but I don´t think he can see that."

"He´s only seventeen, maybe with time he will realize you were only trying to find your own happiness. He will eventually realize that if he, like you, realizes the family business is not for him, he can walk away from it. Maybe it´s still not easy for him to deal with everything that happened, but I think with time he will understand your point of view, he will know that you never did this because you wanted to turn your back on him, but because you need to do something for yourself."

"I know that, but sometimes I can´t help but think I was a bit selfish."

"I think we all must be a bit selfish sometimes if we truly want to be happy."

Armie smiles, cradles Timothée´s face in his hands and kisses him softly. The velvet touch and sweet taste of Timothée´s lips are nearly intoxicating, like a drug he would gladly get addicted to.

"See what happens when you stop a makeout session," Timothée says with a chuckle. "Things get depressing."

Armie laughs. "I´ve learned my lesson, don´t worry."

"Have you?"

"Yes, you want me to prove it?"

"How do you plan on doing this?"

"I have a few ideas," he says with a smirk before pulling Timothée in for a kiss, his arms tightly wrapping around his waist, while he feels Timothée´s slender fingers on the nape of his neck.

 

[Art based on Armie´s sketch of Timmy.](https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/blog/chalamazed/185327270602)


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armie and Jake get into an argument, but Timothée finds a way to make his boyfriend feel better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said there would have eventual smut? Well, it might start today....

**Venice Ink**

**Part 19**

  
  


His fingers trace down his stomach slowly, shivers running down his spine with the anticipation, lips trapped between gritted teeth, the common morning sweat coating his body and adding a bit more of dirtiness to such a mundane activity. Well, when he simply did it for self relief it used to be mundane, but now it was something else, now he had a very clear visual in mind and that usually included Armie in between his legs, lips swollen and cheeks puffed.

Timothée sighs, with his eyes closed and breathing labored, he slowly slides his hand inside his shorts and wraps it around his erect cock. The simply touch causes his whole body to tremble, the feeling so much better now than it ever was before. He strokes himself sluggish, on the back of his mind the imagine of Armie and on his ear, the soft and sweet sound of the low moans he will let it escape whenever they are kissing.

He wets his lips, the pace of his hand increasing ever so slowly along with the heaving of his chest. He throws his head back, a hand wrapping around his neck as he arches his back, his hips thrusting into his fist, earning for more pleasure. He thinks of the way it feels to have Armie´s hand around his waist, how amazing it is to be pressed against his hard body and feel every single muscle of his. He gasps, tightening his grip around his cock, feeling a tingling sensation that goes from head to toe.

A low moan escapes him, Armie´s name coming softly and almost like a prayer. He smiles to himself, thrusts his hips faster and deeper, feels the first drops of precum run down his cock and to his fingers. He can´t help but imagine Armie there, his tongue licking every single drop, swirling around the tip and sucking it all out of him. The thought seems almost way too dirty, something he had always heard the guys say, something he had always seen girls do at porn videos, but that he had never project on his own fantasies. Mainly because until Armie came along, there were no such things as fantasies.

He cums with a gasp, his body shaking, his toe curling and a broad smile plastered on his lips. Never had a handjob felt his good, which promptly led Timothée to think how it would be to have someone else´s hand around him, someone who he knew would actually bring out some pleasure out of him, differently from the handful of girls he had ever had something with and barely were able to get him hard.

The alarm clock goes off to remind him it is still Friday and he has to be at school in an hour. He sighs, reaches for some tissues on the nightstand and cleans himself up before turning off the clock and reaching for his phone. He smiles, among all the silly messages from Zac, there´s one from Armie and that´s the only one that matters.

 

 **< armie>** _kind of bummed u didnt spend the night here_

_     u wont run away from me 2morrow tho _

_     ;) _

 

Timothée chuckles as he sits down on the bed. He´s finally found something that makes him feel alive again.

  
  


*************

  
  


**//now_playing//** _Friday, I´m in Love - The Cure_

 

Armie leans his hips against the cashier, an extremely excited look upon his face as he rambles non stop about the latest Linkin Park album. His audience of one -a red haired girl with big black eyes, pink lips and tattoos all over her arms- listens attentively to every single word he says, a bright smile on her face while her eyes roam through his face and chest.

He ain´t stupid, he noticed from the beginning she was showing interested in more than what he had to say about music, but he remained focused on the album, even if he had already made the sale. As beautiful as the girl was, at the current moment, only one person perpetuated his mind and he was far from being a red haired girl with tattoos.

"...anyway, I hope you´ll enjoy the album."

"Oh, I´m sure I will."

Armie nods, hands her the plastic bags and puts on a small smile. When the girl remains there for a moment more, her bright pink lips curved in a smirk, he feels his cheeks burn. He has never really been in a situation where he turns down a girl like her -not when nothing has happened-, so it feels odd and a bit awkward to do so.

"I´ll see you around," he finally says and waves the girl goodbye. He sighs, leans his head down on his hands and watches as Jake walks past the girl by the door, eyeing her up and down.

"God, she´s hot."

"Yeah, she kind of was."

"Kind?" Jake shakes his head and fist bumps with Armie, before taking a seat on a stool that´s left by the cashier. "You usually would be all over this girl, dude.”

“Usually, but not today.”

Jake nods, silence filling the room for a quick second, before he chuckles at the song. “Quite fitting song choice, huh."

Armie shrugs, "I guess it is.”

Jake chuckles but quickly turns serious, his eyes roaming around the place for a while before he turns to Armie, who´s going through a couple of papers. "Mark and I are going to try and get in the skatepark tonight, wanna come along?"

"I can´t, dude, I have plans already."

"With Timothée?"

Armie stops, his eyes wandering over to Jake. "What's this obsession with Timothée you got going on, huh?"

"I´m not obsessed with anyone, Armie."

"Are you sure? Because you´re always talking about him or bringing him up on the most random conversations and it just seems odd."

"I´m not obsess with him, Armie. But since you two are always together now, I thought that maybe you were not joining because of him."

"Okay, so it´s not an obsession, you´re simply jealous of me hanging out with him."

"Jealous," Jake repeats almost in a whisper as he shakes his head. "Not, Armie, I´m not jealous of him or you. I´m sad, mad and disappointed, but not jealous."

"Why are you... what the fuck is going on?"

"Why don´t you tell me, huh? Or do you think I am stupid?"

"Jake, I have absolutely no idea of what you´re talking about."

"I´m not blind, Armie. I´ve seen the drawing, I´ve seen the looks and smiles, I´ve seen how worried and scared you were when you heard about the rumors. So once again, no I´m not jealous, but I´m very disappointed that my best friend won´t tell me when he is going out with someone."

Armie sighs, not really sure of what to say right now. He has tried to bring on the subject many times during the week, but everytime he tried to do so, he felt scared. The last thing he wanted was to hurt his best friend by hiding something from him, but he also feared that he could turn his back on him and he wouldn´t know how to deal with that.

"Why didn´t you tell me? Why did you keep something like this from me?"

"Because I was scared, I didn´t know how you guys would react and I freaked out. This is all brand new to me, Jake, I´m still learning how to navigate throughout all of this."

"You were scared to tell me you´re going out with a guy?”

"I didn´t know what you would think about it, okay? It´s a crazy world out there, people get beat up every day for being gay."

"And you thought I would do that to you?"

"Of course not, but..."

"I´m your best friend, Armie. We´ve known each other since we were babies, we were neighbours for almost eleven years and we did everything together. You better than anyone should have known, I would never turn my back on you because of who you´re going out with."

"Jake, I didn´t mean to hurt or offend you in any way, I simply..."

"You simply didn´t trust me. You know me my entire life and yet you don´t trust me."

"I trust in you, you´ve been my best friend all my life and..."

"If you trusted me you would have told me! You would have talked to me and explained what you´re feeling, but you chose to keep this from me."

"Jake, I´m sorry."

"I´m sorry too. I´m sorry for whatever I did that made you think I wasn´t worthy of your trust. Maybe I haven´t been the best friend I thought I was."

"You´re twisting things, Jake, this has nothing to do with you."

"Yes, it has. You´re going out with someone, which you actually seem to care, yet you kept it from your best friend because you thought I would turn my back on you. I´ve gotten punched because of you, I got into fights I had nothing to do with to help you and when something like this happens, when you find someone you care about, you rather keep it from me than tell me the truth. I´m deeply sorry if you think I'm making a scene, but I can´t wrap my head around the fact that of all people, you thought I wouldn´t understand it."

"Jake..." Armie buries his face in his hands, lets out a heavy sigh and then looks back at his friend, who´s already walking out the door. "Jake, c´mon you can´t leave like that."

He groans, slamming his fist on the counter just as Paul walks in, a confused look upon his face as he points it over his shoulder. "What happened with Jake? He seemed pissed."

"Nothing happened, Paul."

"Yeah and I´m Santa. C´mon, what happened?"

"Nothing happened," he says a little louder, which makes Paul frown. "I´m... I´m sorry, okay? I´m sorry."

Paul stands in place, his confused eyes watching as Armie grabs his things and simply walks past him and out of the store.

  
  


**************

 

"Fuck, all this work got me tired as hell."

Timothée looks up at Zac as he sits beside him on the bowl. He gives his friend a quick smile and then turns his eyes back to the phone in his hands, frowning as he doesn´t see any messages from Armie. He sighs, tucking the phone back in his backpack and then turns over to Zac, who ́s stretching out his arms and legs.

"I thought we could head over to my house and play some video games for a while, I think my mom is cooking meatballs and she would love to have you there with us. What you say?"

"I would love to eat some of your mom´s food, you know how much I love everything she does, but I actually want to stop by Armie´s place before going home."

"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting you now have a boyfriend." Zac mocks him by doing some kissing sounds and acting as if he is holding someone´s waist, which makes Timothée burst out laughing.

"Stop it, I´m not going there for this."

"You say this now, but I bet you´ll be on his bed minutes after walking through his door."

"Who do you think I am, Zac?" Timothée says while feigning to be offended. "I´m a pure guy."

"Yeah, you and Armie are very pure."

Timothée shakes his head, letting out a few chuckles. "To be honest with you, we haven´t done anything yet."

"Are you serious?"

"We´ve been going out for a week, Zac. And neither one of us has ever been with a guy, so things are still new for us."

"I can understand that, although it still sounds a bit odd when you say nothing happened."

"We´ve kissed, we made out a little bit, we even slept in the same bed, but there´s barely any touching going on let alone actually sleeping together."

Zac nods, his head down and his fingers tapping on his legs. He stays quiet for a moment, then looks around them before his eyes fall back to Timothée. "You´re really into him, aren´t you? Because your whole face changes when you talk about him and I have never seen you this way."

"I really am," he answers along with a nod. "I never really felt this for anyone and I feel kind of stupid sometimes, because I can´t stop thinking about him, but I guess this what happens when you like someone for real. Right?"

"I guess so." He frowns, moves a bit closer to Timothée. "Do your parents know about it already?"

"Hell no."

"Do you think they will be against it?"

_ My racist and homophobic father? _ , is what goes through Timothée´s head as he hears Zac say those words. But obviously he knows this is not the time to get into that subject, so he just shrugs his shoulders.

"I honestly don´t know, Zac. It´s hard to tell how they would react to this, but I think it would be easier for my mom to get used to it."

"Your mom is cool, she will be happy to know you´re with someone you care about."

"I hope that´s the case."

"It will be, don´t worry." He looks down at his phone, then sighs and stretches out his arms once again. "Okay, I´m gonna head home now. Want me to tell everyone to go home?"

"Don´t worry, I´ll tell them myself and help get it all cleaned for the day."

"Okay, I´ll see you around then."

"Maybe we can play video games tomorrow?"

"If you can find the will to let go of your giant boyfriend, sure."

"Stop it!"

"What? He is kind of a giant." Timothée rolls his eyes and Zac laughs, patting his back before he gets up and grabs his things. "Text me the time and we can make a little championship."

"I´ll bring the snacks."

"Deal."

"See you tomorrow, bro."

"See ya."

  
  


**************

  
  


Timothée sighs, biting on his lip as he knocks on the door once again. Armie´s bike is parked beside the garage, Lois´ car is right in front of the house and he can see the lights are on, which makes it pretty obvious they are both home. Doesn´t Armie want to talk to him or are they just being lazy?

He bounces from one foot to the other, looks over his shoulder and is just about to knock again when the door swings open, revealing a rather disheveled Lois standing there. Her frown turns to a bright smile when she realizes it´s him and she instantly pulls him inside the house, not even bothering to close the door before she runs to grab her purse at the kitchen counter.

Timothée takes a quick look around the place, frowning as he sees Armie sitting quietly on the couch. He looks back at Lois, gestures towards Armie and watches as she sighs, shrugging her shoulders.

"I´ve tried to talk to him for hours, but he barely wants to look at me and I am tired of making questions that won´t be answered. You´re his boyfriend, he might actually talk to you so, good luck."

Timothée nods, gives her a quick hug and then locks the door behind him. He sighs, takes one long look at Armie and then walks over to him, sitting right beside him on the couch. His hand lands on his thigh and he smiles as Armie places his on top, playing with his fingers. Whatever it is going on it isn´t about them, so it´s either something to do with his family or his friends.

"I get it if you don´t want to talk, we can just sit here and watch some tv." Timothée says while stealing a quick look at Armie. "But I would feel a lot better if you could at least tell me if you´re okay or not."

"I´m okay," Armie´s voice comes in a whisper as he sits on his side so he can actually look at Timothée. He lets his hand rest on the younger boy´s face, his thumb caressing his cheek for a quick moment before he leans in for a kiss. "Please don´t worry, my day wasn´t exactly the best, but everything´s alright."

"What happened? You´ve been quiet most of the day and now Lois told me she was trying to talk to you, but you wouldn´t answer."

"I didn´t mean to make neither one of you worried, seriously."

"What happened, Armie?"

"Jake and I got into a fight, that´s all."

"Why?"

"He knows about us," Armie says, watching as Timothée´s expression changes a little. He was worried before, but now it seems like he is more scared than anything.

"He didn´t react well to it?"

"The problems isn´t the fact we´re together, is the fact I didn´t tell him we are together. Basically, Jake knew from the moment we met that there was something going on between us, he said he noticed the looks and smiles, but he kept himself quiet because he was waiting for me to say something. The problem is, instead of trusting that he would be the friend he has always been, I was scared of him turning his back on me and kept myself quiet, which for him felt like a betrayal."

"Armie, you know each other since you were babies. I´m sure everything´s gonna be okay soon."

"Maybe, but I made the mistake of telling him that I was scared of his reaction and things only got worse. He thinks I don´t trust him, he thinks I was hiding this because I was certain that he wouldn´t accept us and that pissed him off for real." Armie sighs, leaning his head back on the couch, his eyes stuck on the ceiling. "I tried to explain that I was the one who wasn´t very sure of how to express myself, that I had all these new feelings going through me and I can barely understand them myself, but he wouldn´t have it. I just wanted some time to think things through, you know? I wanted to tell him when I felt ready to share everything, because honestly to God, I´m still trying to let it all sink in."

Armie bites on his lip, closes his eyes for a moment, but opens then as soon as he notices the silence. He looks over at Timothée, who´s quietly sitting there, hands between his legs and a serious look on his face. He arches an eyebrow, moves a bit closer and lifts his chin, taking a good look at his eyes before he can say anything. He has been rambling about this whole situation without really paying much attention to how his words might be affecting Timothée.

Surely he was just being honest, he is still letting all these new emotions sink in, but he did not notice that this could lead Timothée to think he wasn´t yet sure of his feelings. Which he was.

"Hey, I´m sorry, that´s not what I meant."

"No, it´s okay."

"Jesus, it seems like I can´t say anything right today." He sighs and leans closer to Timothée, a smile on the corner of his lips. "I am not gonna lie and tell you I don´t stop and freak out sometimes, because I do. Until a month ago I never imagined myself with a guy, I never thought I could have a serious relationship with anyone, so this is truly all new for me and it will take me a while to let it all sink in. That doesn´t mean I am not enjoying every single second of our time together, because I am. You´re all I think about day and night, Tim. It´s your face I see it in my dreams now and it´s your laugh that makes me feel good and happy. I´ve never been happier than I have been the past week and it´s because of you. So maybe I should apologize for any possible fuck ups of mine, but I am truly one hundred percent in this relationship."

"This sounds quite right, actually." Armie cocks an eyebrow and Timothée smirks, laughing when he finally gets it. He sighs, moves his body a bit closer to Armie and lands his hand on his shoulder, his fingers playing with the hem of his shirt. "Look, I know things might look a bit crazy right now, but Jake is your best friend and once he has cooled down and is no longer angry, I am sure he will come around and talk to you. No one throws away over fifteen years of friendship like this."

"You didn´t see him, Timmy. He is really mad at me."

"And is okay that he is feeling this way right now, but eventually he will realize that you simply needed your time. Right now he is imagining a million reasons why you would hide something like this from him, but once the anger goes away, he will listen to you and you´ll be able to explain everything."

Armie smiles, squeezing Timothée´s thigh. "Thank you for coming here and forcing me to talk in the sweetest and cutest way possible."

"I heard that´s what boyfriends are supposed to do," he says while shrugging.

"I´m gonna need to take a look on that boyfriend´s manual of yours then."

"I´ll lend you once I´m finished with it," he says with a wink. 

He licks his lips, his mind tracking back to the little conversation he had with Zac and then his morning activities. He bites on his lip, his eyes wandering through Armie´s body, his finger caressing his warm skin. Tired of thinking and aware that if he does this too much he might chicken out, Timothée swiftly swings a leg over Armie´s lap and straddles him, his hands cradling his face and his lips locking on his immediately.

If he´s startled by the sudden attack, Armie doesn´t let it show. His hands instantly move to Timothée´s waist and his lips part in a clear invite for Timothée´s tongue. Timothée grabs onto his shirt, his neck and shoulder, kisses him with as much force as he can master and Armie gladly returns the enthusiasm, his large hands bringing Timothée´s body even closer.

"Well that´s new," he says out of breath while looking up at Timothée, who simply smirk before leaning back down, kissing all over his neck and jaw. "I don´t want to ruin the mood..."

"Well, you´re kind of doing it already," Timothée says in between kisses.

"Okay, so how about we move to the bedroom and make sure Lois won´t walk in on us and kill the mood completely?"

Timothée stops, leans back and stares down at Armie while his fingers caress his shaved head. He licks his lips, nods his head and then gets up, standing his hand out for Armie to take it. He gestures towards the bedroom and Armie smiles, pulling himself up and following him down the hallway. To say his heart is pounding inside his chest is an understatement, since he can barely hear anything other than the loud thump of it, but the shiver of excitement that runs through his spine is bigger than anything.

Once inside the bedroom, he makes sure to lock the door behind him, his eyes wandering around for a quick second before he turns to the stereo on the desk. He turns it on, checks on what cd is on it and puts it to play, a smile on his face as the music fills the air.

 

 **//now_playing//** _November Rain - Guns ´n´ Roses_

 

He turns it up the volume a bit, then turns to look at Armie, who has a cheeky grin on his face. Timothée rolls his eyes, takes a few steps closer and shakes his head, punching Armie´s chest playfully.

"Don´t get too excited."

"I´m not."

"Liar."

Armie shrugs, licking his lips. "You´re making it very hard not to."

Timothée closes the gap between them and instantly takes a hold of Armie´s shirt, pulling it off of him as quick as he possibly can. He bites on his lips, his eyes staring at Armie´s fit and tanned body, his mouth nearly going dry at the sight. He slides a hand to the back of his neck, pulls him down and kisses him deeply, his free hand running down Armie´s chest and over to his lower back. It takes him a second or two to actually allow his hand down to Armie´s ass, but once he does he can´t help it but squeeze it as tight as he can.

Armie moans low between the kiss, his fingers tugging on Timothée´s shirt and pulling it off of him, throwing on the ground along with his. He sits down on his bed, eyes locked on Timothée the entire time, his chest heaving as he watches him straddle his lap, their shirtless bodies pressed together as their lips find each other once more.

Timothée throws his weight on top of Armie, causing them both to fall down on the bed, soft giggles echoing as they move around the sheets. It doesn´t take much longer for their jeans to join their shirts on the floor, their semi naked bodies tangled in one another. Their hands explore their bodies, their lips do the same, tasting the salty skin and leaving love marks.

Armie can feel the hardness of Timothée´s cock pressed against his and it nearly drives him insane, his whole body burning and his mouth salivating. He pulls on Timothée´s bottom lip, smirks as the younger boy closes his eyes and moans rather loudly. His hand travel down Timothée´s back, grabs a tight hold of his hips and remains there for a while before he shyly slides it down to his ass cheeks, taking a good hold of it.

Timothée leans his forehead on Armie´s shoulder, his breathing labored as he seeks for Armie´s hand and guides it in between them and over to his hard cock. He trembles from head to toe at the simple touch of Armie´s palm through the thin fabric of his boxers, when Armie lifts his chin and forces eye contact, he can barely say anything, so he simply nods and smiles.

Armie takes the hint right away and within seconds his hand is sliding inside his boxers and wrapping it around his cock. Timothée gasps, sinks his nails on Armie´s shoulder and takes deep breaths before Armie starts to slowly pump him up and down. His cheeks flush, his eyes close and goosebumps take over his skin, his mind going on overdrive.

Armie doesn´t take his eyes out of Timothée´s face the entire time, he wets his lips and smiles, enjoying every micro expression that goes through his face, loving every single moan and gasp that escapes his lips. He can´t really remember ever seeing something so beautiful and so pure in his life. The first drops of precum start to ooze out of Timothée´s cock and Armie looks down, his own body responding in unexpected ways to the sight.

Armie´s name leaves Timothée´s lips repeatedly, his body shaking from pleasure, his knuckles pale from the tight grip he has on Armie´s shoulder. He tries to breathe properly, he tries to keep his eyes open, but it all seems too much right now.  When Armie whispers in his ear, telling him to relax, Timothée tries his best to do so and soon enough he finds himself riding the waves of an orgasm, one like he has never experienced before.

It truly does feel different when you´re with someone you´re in love with.

Timothée stares at Armie for a moment, blushing a deep red as Armie looks down at him with a wide smile on his face. He bites on his lip, chuckles and then buries his face in the crook of his neck, his eyes closing as he feels Armie´s fingers stroking his hair.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boyfriends who video game together, stay together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys liked the end of the last one, I have a feeling you´ll enjoy the begining of this just as much ;)

**Venice Ink**

**Part 20**

  
  


Armie sits quietly on his bed, back against the bedpost while he focuses on his sketchbook, his talented fingers swiftly moving around the paper, leaving trails of graphite. He pulls on the curtains, frowning as the rain seems to intensify, thunder and lightning filling the sky. He had planned on spending the morning out, maybe ride his bike on the pier or go to Los Angeles for a few hours, but it seems like it will be more of an indoor day for him.

He looks to his left, a broad smile showing up on his lips as he watches Timothée sleeping. The peaceful expression, the curls falling down his face and the redness of his lips make him look like a painting. He looks to his sketchbook, the drawing is not even close to conveying the real beauty of the boy lying next to him, but he is aware that will never be possible. 

Another thunder comes and it seems like the whole house shakes, which not only startles Armie, but also makes Timothée move around, a groan escaping him before he can open his eyes. Armie tosses the sketchbook to the floor, lies back down on the bed so he can be on the same level as Timothée and smiles sweetly at the boy, his finger pushing some of the curls behind his ear.

"Good morning," Timothée whispers, his voice a bit hoarse.

"Good morning," Armie replies while snuggling closer to him, his large hands landing on Timothée´s slim waist and pulling his upper body closer to his. 

"How long you´ve been awake?"

"Just a couple of minutes, I stared at you for a while then I decided to draw a little bit."

"Let me see it," Timothée says while looking around the bed, searching for any trace of Armie´s drawings. "Where is it?"

"You don´t wanna see it."

"Yes, I do."

"No, you don´t."

"I´ve seen your art at the garage before, Armie."

"I know, but I don´t want you to see this one."

Timothée arches an eyebrow, leans back so he can take a better look at Armie and then sits down on the bed, his eyes scanning the entire room before spotting the sketchbook on the ground. He looks at Armie, a smirk on his face and moves down to grab it, only to be yanked back by Armie, who wraps his arms around his waist and bring him back down.

"Let me see it, Armie." Timothée says in between chuckles as Armie shakes his head and pins him down on the bed, hovering on top of him. Timothée bites on his lip, looking down in between them and blushing slightly. "It´s really not fair that I am naked here."

"You´re the one who got your boxers dirty last night, dude." Timothée hits his chest and Armie chuckles, leaving quick and wet kisses on his neck before he leans their foreheads together, his lips brushing against Timothée´s from time to time. "Not that I mind taking mine off and making things even."

"I wouldn´t be opposed to that either," Timothée says even if he can´t really believe those words are coming out of his mouth. He spent so many years suppressing the things he was feeling, the desires he had burning deep inside of him, but in one week Armie was able to bring all those desires to the surface and for once Timothée wasn´t afraid to acknowledge them.

Armie smirks before locking his lips on Timothée´s, kissing him with all his will. The velvet touch of his tongue, the sweetness of his lips, everything in him seems to light up a fire inside of him, a fire he has never felt before and that scares him at the same time that excites him. He wants to explore everything he can with Timothée, he wants to learn everything there´s still to learn with him, Armie wants to know just how deep are these feelings he has. 

He grinds his body against Timothée´s, shivers as he feels his fingers trace down his sides and stop by the waistline of his boxers. Armie pulls away breathless, his lips swollen, his cheeks flushed and his ocean blue eyes now dark with desire. He leaves quick and wet kisses all over Timothée´s jaw, smiles as he hears the low moans echo, but bites on his lip as his fingers teasingly pull on the thin fabric of his boxers.

"Take it off," he whispers in Timothée´s ears.

Timothée doesn´t waste any time, he promptly pulls Armie´s boxers down as much as he can, chuckling as Armie himself kicks them to the ground in a swift movement. He lets his hands slide over to his ass, resting there for a few seconds before he slowly moves a hand in between their bodies and wraps it around Armie´s erect cock.

"Fuck," the word echoes in the room and it´s even hard to figure out by who exactly it was said. Maybe Armie while feeling the warmth of Timothée´s hand around his hard member, maybe Timothée as he noticed the thickness of it.

Armie gasps, buries his face in the crook of Timothée´s neck and takes a couple of deep breaths, his hands grabbing onto the sheets. Timothée is stroking him slowly, making sure his hand runs the entire length of him and the sensations are almost too much for him to describe. He feels his wet lips against his feverish skin, kissing and biting on his shoulder, increasing the pleasure that´s already bigger than most he has ever felt before.

Timothée whispers in his ear, kisses his cheek and ever so slowly increases the speed of his strokes. It´s an entirely different feeling to have someone´s cock in his hand, to feel the veins, the thickness and hardness of it, to know that the precum that leaks it´s caused by him. 

Armie feels himself tremble, his cock throbbing against Timothée´s palm and he can barely think straight. He thrusts his hips forward, nearly fucking himself in Timothée´s hand before his entire body goes rigid. He tangles his fingers on his curls, kisses him hard on the lips and lets himself go, his cock coating Timothée´s hand with cum.

Armie does the best he can not to collapse on top of Timothée, but his whole body goes pliant and he has to quickly roll over to the bed, eyes stuck to the ceiling as he tries to catch his breath. He looks over at his side, watching as Timothée reaches for the sheets to clean themselves and once their eyes meet, they can´t help but laugh. 

Timothée bites on his lip, wraps an arm around Armie´s waist and leans his head against his sweaty chest. They remain like that for a while, quietly basking on each other´s scent and warmth, enjoying every second together because that´s what they love the most nowadays, to be together.

"Any idea of what to do on this rainy day?" Armie asks as Timothée looks up at him with a smirk. 

  
  
  


**************

  
  


**//now_playing//** _With Arms Wide Open - Creed_

 

Timothée can hear the music playing from the bathroom, a chuckle escaping him as he hears Armie singing along to it rather excitedly. Stepping closer to the bathroom mirror, he leans a hand against the sink, while the other cleans up the fogged mirror, revealing gleeful eyes and a broad smile. 

Some of the bruises his father left on his last assault are still visible, a constant reminder of the terror that he has been going through for years. But despite those memories, Timothée has a brand new fire burning inside of him, a will to be happy and allow himself to live out all the things he always wanted. 

He isn´t as scared of living life and being true to himself as he was before, because now he has someone to rely on, someone who lifts him up and makes him feel whole. Armie´s joy and easy spirit seems to be exactly what he needed to shake up his life and bring back the happiness he once had. 

Timothée smiles to himself, happy with this new chapter of his life even if he is aware that things are far from being perfect. He pushes some of his wet curls back, hangs the towel behind the door and walks out of the bathroom, only to find Armie moving around in the kitchen, putting on a show as he tries to cook. 

He leans against the wall for a second, watches the scene ahead of him with a smirk on his face and claps as Armie turns around for a brief moment, catching his gaze. Timothée walks over to the kitchen and hops on the counter, taking a quick look at all the bowls lying there.

"That was quite a show, Mr. Artist."

"What can I say, I like to feel the music."

"I wonder what your friends would say if they knew you´re going around the house singing Creed."

"They would probably mock me, but for that they would have to talk to me first."

"Oh c´mon, don´t be so dramatic."

"I´m not," Armie says while turning over to face Timothée. "I texted Jake and Mark last night before I fell asleep, but neither one of them replied to me."

"Give them some time, Armie. I´m sure they will come around eventually, they just need some time to get used to the whole thing."

"Get used to what, Timmy?" He places the bowl down, walks over to Timothée and snuggles himself in between Timothée´s legs, his hands resting on his thighs. "I´m dating a guy, but I´m still the same they know for years."

"And they will soon realize that."

"I´m not so sure of that."

"I am."

Armie smiles and leans in to place a kiss on Timothée´s lips, whose arms tightly wrap around his neck, pulling him even closer. He squeezes his thighs, pulls on his bottom lip and then leans their foreheads together, a bright smile on his face and a slight blush on his cheeks.

"I should get back to making breakfast."

"Well, it´s almost lunch by now."

"We spent a bit longer in bed than expected."

"And it was so damn worth it."

"It really was." Armie smirks, places a couple more kisses on Timothée´s lips and then pushes himself back, walking back to the stove where he gets a frying pan to start working on an omelet. "You like omelets, right?"

"I think it´s safe to say I like food."

"My type of person."

"Oh really?" Timothée hops off of the counter, walking over to Armie and wrapping his arms around his waist, his chin resting on the older boy´s shoulder. "Because if I remember correctly, Lois said you were quite the picky eater."

"And you´re gonna choose to believe Lois?"

"She knows you better than anyone."

"We can change that," Amie whispers while winking.

Timothée smiles, leans in to kiss Armie on the cheek and then lets his eyes wander to Armie´s back, his finger tracing the tattoo. He´s still mesmerized by it, every dot and detail makes him wonder exactly what Armie had in mind when he drew this and most importantly, what is the meaning behind it.

"Okay, instead of distracting me by doing whatever the hell you´re doing, how about you help me out. I´m starving here and if you keep doing this I might not finish this anytime soon."

"You get distracted way too easily, Mr. Artist."

"I do like this nickname way better than the last one."

"But Blowjob Guy is awesome," mocks Timothée with a smirk.

"I don´t see it that way."

"Thats´s too bad," he shrugs, laughing as Armie rolls his eyes. "Okay, what am I supposed to do here?"

"There´s some chicken on the fridge, I thought we could prepare it to eat with the omelet."

"That sounds good," he kisses Armie once more, making him smile and then moves to  the fridge, taking the chicken out. He looks up as the front door opens and waves at Lois, who walks in slowly, a little smile on her face. "Good morning."

"Good morning," she says while leaning on the counter, her eyes wandering to Armie. "You seem better."

"Someone helped me," he answers while looking over at Timothée.

"Ugh, you two are too cute."

  
  


****************

  
  


Armie has his head leaned on the couch's arm, his eyes stuck to the ceiling as his fingers stroke Timothée's curls. He steals quick looks down at the boy, who lies in between his legs, his hands rubbing up and down his jean covered legs. They have been lying there for almost half an hour, most of the time in pure silence, simply enjoying each other's presence and for Armie is a bit funny to think that about a month ago he thought something like this was never going to happen with him.

Is not that he didn't believe in love or that he thought every relationship was doomed, he simply didn't think he was soothed for them. To be honest, he still fears he is not, but what he feels for Timothée is so intense and pure, he is willing to do everything he can to make it work. Maybe he will fail, but maybe he will learn that all it takes for a good relationship are two people who are willing to try. And he knows they both are, he knows that Timothée wants this relationship to go forward just as much as he does. He never really experienced it before, but Armie knows they are in love.

"Do you wanna do something later today? The rain seems to have stopped for good, maybe we could go to the pier."

"I would love that, but..."

"I don't like buts," Armie whines as Timothée leans his head back, cocking an eyebrow. "You know what I mean."

Timothée laughs, reaching out to stroke Armie's chin. "Anyway, Zac and I are getting together to play some video games tonight."

"Jesus, why you put yourself through this?"

"What are you talking about?" Timothée asks in between laughs.

"Timmy, you suck at video games."

"You beat me twice, don't get all cocky on me, Armie."

"I beat you four times in one night."

"Whatever," he mumbles before turning on his side, his chin resting on Armie's bare chest. "You could come too."

"To Zac's place?" Timothée nods and Armie shrugs. "I don't want to get in between you two, you'll probably want to talk and..."

"There's nothing Zac and I talk that you can't hear, Armie. You and I are the ones with a secret, not me and Zac. Besides, we're only gonna play video games, eat some pizza and maybe some snacks."

"Well, it might actually be fun."

"It will be, I guarantee."

"Okay, I'll go. I don't really have anything else to do, so might as well join my boyfriend on a night out with his friend."

"Boyfriend," Timothée repeats with a smirk. "I like how that word sounds coming from your mouth."

"Oh, you do?"

"Yes, I do."

"Good to know, boyfriend. I'll make sure to say the word more often, boyfriend. Now that I know my boyfriend enjoys it, I need to..."

"Stop it," Timothée says while hitting Armie's chest. He chuckles as Armie holds onto his waist, leans forward and whispers the word over and over again while turning them around on the couch so he can hover on top of him. "Seriously, stop it."

"You unleashed something you can't control, Mr. Fancy Name."

"I thought we were done with that, Blowjob Guy."

"Is either that or boyfriend over and over again, you choose."

Armie wiggles his eyebrows, smiling as Timothée laughs. He leans down, pins Timothée's hands to the couch and lets their lips touch, a slow kiss that quickly builds up into a heated and passionate one.

  
  


**************

  
  


"You can leave it there," Timothée points over to the small garage beside the house, his hip leaned against the wooden rail while he watches Armie push his bike. 

A smile creeps on the corner of his lips, his green eyes watching every single move of Armie, like the way his veins pop out when he locks the bike, how he pulled on his socks almost all the way over to his calf, the ink stains on the back of his white shirt and the way his jeans hang low. 

Armie turns back and frowns for a second, before looking down at himself in search of anything out of place or some kind of dirt. He looks back at Timothée confused, but when the boy simply shrugs his shoulders, Armie can´t help but smirk. He nearly jumps the three steps to the porch, his arms wrapping around Timothée´s slim waist almost immediately.

"You like staring at me, huh?"

"You should be happy, otherwise this relationship wasn´t going to last very long."

"And we don´t want that."

"We definitely don´t want that."

They pull away the moment the door opens and Zac stands there, arms crossed above his chest and a fake annoyed look on his face. "Please tell me you don´t plan to do this the whole night, because if so, I´ll have to ask one of you to leave."

"I can stay," Armie says while wrapping an arm around Timothée´s shoulder. "Timmy sucks at video games anyway."

"I see you already showed your boyfriend your not so great skills, huh?"

"You guys just like to mock me, I´m actually quite good."

"No, you´re not," Zac and Armie say in unison, which makes Timothée roll his eyes. Zac chuckles, opens the door wider and gestures for them to come inside. "Look, Armie, there´s only one little problem."

"What problem?"

"When Timmy texted me you were coming too, I had already called..."

"Hey."

Armie turns to the side, watching as Mark gets up from the couch. He has his hands stuck in his pockets, a little smile on his face and his red hair tied up in a bun. Armie doesn´t really know what to do or say right now, he doesn´t know how much Mark knows about the story or if he´s just as mad at him as Jake was.

"Hey," is all he can manage to let it out.

"Look, Jake told me what happened and I just wanted you to know everything´s alright between us."

"Really?"

"I don´t see why anything has to be different between us. Look, I know you guys think I´m not that smart and all that crap, but I could tell there was something going on."

Armie can´t help but let out a breath, one he didn´t even notice he was holding. Even if things might not be going great with Jake at the moment, at least he still has Mark on his side. He takes one deep breath, walks over to Mark and lets his arms wrap around his friend, hugging him as tight as he possibly can.

"Thank you."

"I got your back, buddy," Mark whispers while patting Armie´s back.

"It means a lot, specially because Jake simply won´t talk to me right now and..."

"Hey, I know it looks bad right now, but he just needs some time to let it all sink in. It was a bit of a shock to both of us to realize you wouldn´t even tell him what was going on."

"I was going to tell, to both of you, I just needed some time."

Mark nods, a small smile on his lips. "I got it, man. You don´t need to explain me anything."

"This is all very touching," Zac says from the stairs, catching everyone´s attention. "But there´s pizza and video games waiting for us upstairs. Are we gonna do this or not?"

"You really know how to ruin a moment, don´t you?" Timothée rolls his eyes, pushing Zac up the stairs as Armie and Mark laugh, running up to join them.

"Are we gonna play each for their own or we´re gonna be in teams?"

"Teams," Zac answers quickly as he lets them all inside his bedroom. 

There´s some pillows and cushions on the ground, a box of pizza on the computer desk and the television is already set for them to start out. He practically throws himself down on the floor, grabs one of the consoles and then looks over at his friends, gesturing for them to join him.

"What are the teams?" Armie asks and watches as Mark nearly throws himself on Zac´s lap, a mocking smile on his face. "Fine, he´s my boyfriend, I might as well have to handle his awful playing skills."

"Very funny," Timothée pretends to laugh while pushing Armie down. He squirms away when he tries to hug him, his eyes focused on the television. "You better not fuck this up since you´re so full of yourself, Blowjob Guy."

Mark and Zac exchange a look, before turning to the side, where Armie has a pretty annoyed look upon his face and Timothée is about to burst out laughing.

"Do we even wanna know?"

"Remember the guy I caught getting a blowjob at the party?"

  
  


******************

  
  


Timothée doesn't really waste any time, the moment he is sat on the kitchen counter, his legs immediately wrap around Armie's body, pulling him even closer, if that was really possible. His hands slide inside his t-shirt, his nails dragging through Armie's soft and feverish skin. 

Armie has his hands resting on Timothée's thighs, stroking them up and down. Their lips move together, their tongues seem to battle for control in a fight they both win, their bodies ache and claim for one another. Armie moans softly through their kiss, Timothée's touch bringing shivers down his spine and goosebumps all over his skin. 

He moves his lips down Timothée's neck while his hand sneaks up his body, feeling every inch of his skin. Armie nearly goes crazy the moment his name echoes in the kitchen, the moans Timothée delivers better than the best symphony Mozart could compose. Armie cradles his face, stares at those swollen and bright red lips and smiles, the thoughts going through his head far from pure. 

"I think we should go back upstairs," Timothée whispers when Armie leans closer once again, their lips barely brushing together. 

"I think I rather stay right here where we are," he winks, locks their lips together once more and smirks as Timothée's hands slide down his back and rest just above his ass.

"We shouldn't even be here," his voice is barely a whisper and he has to do everything he can not to moan loud as Armie sucks on his neck. 

"What? Making out on your best friend's kitchen wasn't on your bucket list?" 

"No, not really."

"But it's quite exciting, isn't it?"

"No, it's not." Armie throws him a look and Timothée sighs, shrugging his shoulders. "Okay, maybe a little. Though, I still don't want them to get down here looking for us and find us like this."

"We've been here for almost ten minutes, Tim. And we only came down here to grab beer and snacks, I think they know exactly what we are doing." Armie chuckles as Timothée's cheek turn a bright pink, so he lets his fingers run down his hair, a sweet smile on his face. "But if you really want to go, that's okay, we can go."

"Then lets go before I change my mind."

"Am I that irresistible?"

"Not when you're being this cocky," he says while hopping off of the counter. "But you got your charm."

"I'll take that as a compliment." 

Timothée shrugs, grabs the beer pack and hands it over to Armie before taking a hold of the snacks bags they scattered around the counter. The doorbell rings before they can even reach the stairs, so they both head over to the door, slightly confused on who it would be. Armie is the one who opens, since Timothée is struggling with the snacks, his body tensing up as he sees who's standing in front of him.

"Jake?"


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happiness doesn´t last forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone missing the angst? No? Just me? In this case, I am sorry.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 21**

  
  


Timothée stares at Armie and Jake back and forth, the awkward silence that suddenly dominates the room, almost too much for him to bear. He swallows, bites on his lip and figures that if he doesn't take action, the two boys might spent the rest of the night there, simply staring at one another and avoiding the conversation they desperately need to have. He takes the beer from Armie's hand, holds it under his arm and gives him a small but reassuring smile.

"You two should stay here and talk, I'll be upstairs with the guys."

"You sure you can handle all of this on your own?"

"A beer pack won't kill me, Armie." Armie can't help but chuckle and Timothée smiles up at him before placing a kiss on his cheek. His eyes wander to Jake, who's biting on his lip, an almost shameful look on his face. "I'm glad you decided to join us, Jake."

Jake simply shrugs and then watches as Timothée rushes up the stairs, struggling with everything he is caring. As he disappears upstairs, Jake's eyes wander to Armie, who still has a smile plastered on his face. Their eyes meet soon afterwards and the smile he could see, suddenly drops it and gives room to a serious and rather fearful look.

"Mark texted me her was here playing video games and said I should stop by, I didn't know you and Tim would be here."

"Because you wouldn't come if you knew?"

"No, Armie."

Jake's voice comes in an annoyed tone, the idea that Armie still thinks his problem is with the fact he is dating another guy getting the best of him. He sighs, keeps himself calm and then takes a couple of steps closer to his friend.

"If I knew you would be here, I'd have prepared something better than sorry to say to you. I said it before, but I'll say it once again if you need to hear it, I have absolutely no problem with you dating a guy, that was never the issue. My problem was that you chose to keep something like this from me, that you out of all people would think I would have a problem with who you go out with. I thought you knew me better than that, Armie."

"My issue was never you, Jake. It was a problem with myself, me understanding what I was feeling and finding the courage to own it. Everything happened so fast, I barely had time to process what I was feeling, the things I wanted."

"And that's why I can't understand why you didn't talk to me. I've always listened to you, I've never judged you, what made you think I would do it now?"

"You heard about the rumors, you heard the things people have been saying about Tim at his school. How many people have lost friends and family for being gay? I'm sorry I wasn't honest with you from the beginning, I'm sorry I wasn't brave enough to actually sit down and talk to you and Mark about what was going on, I wanted to do it, I really did."

Jake sighs, his eyes locked on Armie's. "I'm sorry you felt this way and also for making you feel like you were a bad friend. I got angry and disappointed when I realized you were keeping this from me, probably unnecessarily, but I'm only human and I couldn't really control myself."

"You don't have to apologize, I'd probably have felt the same if it was the other way around."

"I do have to apologize, probably even more than I already did, because I feel like I was a total asshole to you."

"You don't need to say anything else, what you said today is enough."

Jake nods, stands his hand out and waits for Armie to take the next step. When Armie pulls him to a hug, he can't help but chuckle, his arms wrapping around his friend.

"I'm happy for you, by the way."

"Thanks, bro."

"I can tell you guys really like one another and I hope you'll be very happy together."

"I've never thought I could like someone the way I like him, you know? I spent so much time jumping from girl to girl, not really caring about anything other than sex and immediate pleasure. Then this guy comes out of nowhere and just..." Armie sighs, a broad smile on his face. "He makes me question everything I ever thought about myself and relationships."

"That's what being in love does to you, Armie."

"Says the master of relationships."

"I might have not gone through many, but certainly more than you. I've loved before and I can tell by the look in your eyes and the smile on your face you're going through the same thing I did once."

"Maybe."

"You are, just make sure you're smarter than I was."

"Don't worry, bro. With everything he goes through already, I plan on being his refuge better than another burden."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Jake asks slightly confused, watching as Armie simply shakes his head.

"Nothing, I was just rambling. Why don't we go upstairs before they finish all those beers?"

"That's a great idea."

"Maybe you can join me next time we play, because for fuck's sake, Timothée sucks at video games."

“Talking shit about your boyfriend already? C'mon, Armie."

"Oh, shut up."

Armie wraps an arm around Jake's shoulder as they make their way up the stairs, a huge weight being taken off of his shoulders now that they have talked and sorted things out. He knows he wouldn't be able to stay away from his best friend for too long. 

  
  


****************

  
  


Timothée´s squeal fills the air, his green eyes wide open and his hands holding firmly into the bike handle while Armie, who can´t stop laughing at his reaction, zigzags his bike through the quiet and dark streets. Timothée shakes his head, bites hard on his lip and takes quick looks over his shoulder, rolling his eyes whenever Armie winks and smirks at him.

He inhales deeply, his eyes wandering through the streets, watching the beautiful houses pass them by and the starry sky. The cool breeze feels lovely, the warmth of Armie´s body pressed against his back even better. Spending time with Armie, his friends and Zac turned out better than he could have expected, which made him feel even better than he already was. And even if he doesn´t want to get his hopes up, it seems like slowly his life is turning around and a new, easier and happier chapter is coming to life.

"This is not the way to your house," he looks over his shoulder confused, watching as Armie nods enthusiastically.

"I´m aware of that, Timmy."

"Then where are we going?"

"I thought you´d like to go for a swim."

"Don´t you think it´s a bit too late for that?"

"It´s never too late for a swim, Timmy."

Timothée tries his best to look unimpressed and even a bit annoyed, but the look of pure excitement on Armie´s face makes it almost impossible to keep the facade. He smiles wide, watching as the beach comes to view and the smell of the ocean fills his nostrils. 

Armie pedals even faster, takes his hands off of the handle and laughs as Timothée mumbles a soft  _ fuck _ , shaking his head as he does so. He quickly takes hold of the thing again, placing a quick kiss on Timothée´s cheek before he stops near the pier.

Timothée hops off of the bike and watches carefully as Armie locks it around a post, his eyes roaming towards him from time to time. He cocks an eyebrow, watches as Armie walks slowly towards him and wraps his arms tightly around his waist.

"You´re joining me tonight or you´re gonna leave me all alone once again?"

"I will join you tonight."

"Really?"

"Really. And if I happen to see those two girls staring at you once again, I´ll have to go and have a talk with them."

"Oh, he´s the jealous type."

"Not really, but suit yourself."

"Okay, enough talking and more swimming."

Armie takes off his shirt and shorts, shoves them inside the bike basket and then patiently waits for Timothée to do the same, his blue eyes wandering up and down his body. Once they are both only on their underwear, Armie stands his hand out, a broad smile on his face as he feels Timothée´s hand slide on top of his. 

Timothée runs down the sand, his fingers intertwined with Armie´s, their laughter echoing through the empty beach. He screams as they hit the water, the coldness of it causing his whole body to shiver; he wraps his arms around his naked torso, bites down on his lip and looks around, his eyes going wide as Armie runs over to him with a mischievous smile on his face.

"Don´t you dare throw me on this water, Armie."

"I would never do this," he says while wrapping his arms around Timothée once again. He leans down to kiss him, their lips moving together so eagerly it seems like they haven´t seen each other in months, even years. 

Armie slides his fingers through Timothée´s hair, moans softly as Timothée´s hands rest on his hips, his slender fingers playing with the wet and by now see-through fabric. He pulls away breathless, his eyes glistening with euphoria, care and love; he has never felt so free in his entire life.

"I´m sorry," he whispers as Timothée frowns.

"What are you talking about?" Timothée asks, but instead of an actual answer, Armie simply tightens the grip around his body and dives down into the water, taking him along. Timothée barely has time to catch his breath, but instead of fighting, he simply relaxes and allows Armie to guide him. 

They come back to the surface not even a minute later, their arms reaching out for one another right away. Armie cradles Timothée´s face,  wipes some of the water from his eyes and leans their foreheads together. Timothée smiles wide, his hands sliding down Armie´s chest before he holds tight onto his waist. 

Leaning on his tiptoes, Timothée teasingly lets his lips brush against Armie´s, only to pull away when the older boy tries to actually kiss him. When Armie groans, Timothée leans in, kisses him quickly and then pushes himself away, running away from Armie, who sprints after him. A loud scream escapes Timothée once Armie wraps his arms around his waist, pulling him up and throwing him back to the water.

  
  


**************

 

 **//now_playing//** _Times Like These - Foo Fighters_

 

The music fills the room while they lie quietly on the bed, their bodies now dried and warm. Armie is on his stomach, his eyes closed as he softly mumbles the lyrics to the song. Timothée has his chin leaned against Armie's shoulder, his finger tracing his spine. The warmth of Armie's body underneath his fingertip makes Timothée smile, his soft touch is welcoming and as they remain there, he can't help but let his mind wonder.

His feelings for Armie are strong, stronger than he ever thought possible. From the moment they kissed for the first time, Timothée knew Armie meant a lot to him, but as the days go by he realizes the truth depth of those feelings. Sometimes he finds himself scared, preoccupied that he will open up too much and end up hurt in the end. But he also thinks of leaving everything behind, getting into a car and driving off with Armie, never to come back.

When Armie moves underneath him, Timothée comes back to reality, his finger moving towards his tattoo, tracing every little detail on it. He doesn't really understand why this tattoo captures his attention this way, but he could spend hours staring at it, creating on his mind different reasons to justify Armie's choice for drawing.

"You never told me the meaning of your tattoo," he finally asks.

"Yes, I did."

"No, you said you wanted something that represented you, so the brush and pencil is obvious, but there must be a reason why you did it this way. Right?"

"I was twelve when I walked into my dad's office and found old diaries that belonged to my grandfather. He had drawings and researches there, things he did before his father passed away and he had to take care of the company. He was an artist too and in those diaries he explained the fear he felt of going against his father, how insecure he was to become a businessman, but most importantly, he talked about his passion for art and left many, many pieces unfinished. His last entry on the diaries was those circles, connected by dots and vertical angles."

Timothée smiles, his finger tracing the tattoo once more before he lies down, his face inches away from Armie's. He rests his hand on his cheek, stroking it with his thumb as Armie smiles.

"I stole all the diaries, read all five of them and somehow they made me realize that I couldn't go through the same thing he did. I wasn't going to give into peer pressure, forget about what I loved and run a company. I wasn't going to make the same mistake he did, so I left, without the money but with the diaries. I started working on the tattoo a few days after Jake and I got back from our road trip, did some changes on his drawings, added some stuff I thought it would be cool and had it done."

"Well, that's a lot more than I could have expected." Timothée says while Armie wraps an arm around him, nuzzling himself against Timothée's neck. "Did you get to meet your grandfather?"

"Yes, but by the time I was born he was a serious and very quiet man. We got along great, I always felt connected to him even more than with my parents, but I could tell he wasn't exactly the happiest man alive."

"I'm sure he's happy you're getting the chance to be yourself instead of following the path expected from you."

"After I left, I told myself in some ways I was doing this for him too. And it's a stupid idea, but..."

"No, it's not. He never had his change, but you did and you're honoring him. You got his art on your skin, Armie, you're showing the world something that he did and that if it wasn't for you would probably remain on that office forever."

Armie stares at Timothée with a smile on his face and admiration on his eyes. The intelligence and sensitivity of Timothée will always impress him.

"What?"

"I never told that to anyone, because I thought no one would care or understand the importance of it."

"Well, I'm not just anyone."

"You're right, you're not." Armie leans in, his lips touching Timothée's softly and briefly. "You're the most incredible man in the world."

"That's...not true."

"Yes, it is. You go through hell and you still find the will to live, to do something for your community, to be happy."

"To be fair, that last part only happened because you walked into my life."

"Then I'll never leave."

"You better not."

  
  
  


***************

  
  


A loud groan escapes Armie as he moves around on the bed, his eyes opening to find nothing but empty sheets beside him. He sighs, leans on his elbows and takes a quick look around the room, before lying back down, his hand stroking the sheets. He frowns at the sudden feel of paper against his palm, looks over to the side and reaches for it, a little smile on the corner of his lips as he sees Timothée´s note.

 

_ Sorry I didn´t stay until you woke up _

_ I had to go and check on my mom _

_ I´ll call you later today _

 

He places the note on the nightstand, buries his nose deep into the pillow that Timothée was using and inhales deeply, his scent still quite present. Armie hugs the pillow, closes his eyes and just lies there for a moment, his mind wondering to Timothée, his smile, his curls, his eyes, his warm touch against his skin. He thinks of how beautiful he looked the previous night, lips bright red, pale skin glistening with water, his skin salty because of the ocean and his boxers clinging into his thighs. 

Armie smiles at the now common tingling that goes through his entire body at the thought of Timothée, the way his body reacts to simple thoughts of the younger boy, something he still hasn´t gotten used to. It´s more intense than anything he has ever felt and sometimes it scares him a little bit, but simply because he is afraid of doing something wrong himself.

His hand slides down his bare chest and nestles itself between his crotch and the pillow, his fingers gently touching the tip of his cock, which by now is almost painfully hard. He bites on his lip, closes his eyes tight shut and sneaks his hand inside his boxer briefs, wrapping a tight fist around his cock right away. Armie strokes it slowly, his breathing labored, his lips hurting from how deep his teeth have sunk into it.

His face is buried deep into the pillow, his arm wrapped around it like it´s Timothée himself there. His body burns, his cheeks blushing a deep crimson at the thoughts he comes up with. The idea of Timothée kneeling in between his legs, those beautiful green eyes locked on him and his mouth full, makes Armie lose all control, a grunt escaping him as he bites onto the pillows.

"Fuck," he mumbles softly, his eyes wandering down to his hand and dirty boxers. He reaches for a few tissues on the nightstand, cleans himself up and then rolls onto his back on the bed, eyes stuck to the ceiling and a look of pure excitement on his face.

The carefree look vanishes when he starts thinking a bit too much into the situation though, the idea of doing something wrong clouding his head once more. Armie pushes the sheets to the side, jumps out of the bed and sits down on the swivel chair, bringing his computer to life. The wait until the page is open makes him want to kill himself, the tension of doing such researches making him feel like a fucking fool, but the curiosity to know more about a world he had never really expected to be in takes the best of him.

He types it as fast as he can, his blue eyes stuck on the screen as he scrolls down the page and tries to find the best resource for him. The door opens before he can decide on anything though and with a startled look, he stares at Lois.

"What the fuck? Forgot how to knock?"

"Sorry, I thought you were still sleeping."

"Well, I wasn´t." He says while quicking minimizing all the tabs on the computer, which causes Lois to shoot him a weird look. "What?"

"What are you doing? What you´re hiding from me?"

"I´m not hiding anything, Lois."

"Yes, you are. You just closed those pages like it was the fucking plague, what you´re doing there that I can´t see it?"

"Can you just leave me alone?" He asks as Lois runs over to him and tries to take the mouse from his hands. Armie groans, doing his best to keep her as far away from it as possible and grabs onto her wrists,  his eyes turning serious as he stares at her. "Stop it, okay? Just tell me what the hell you´re doing here."

"You got laundry?"

"I do, but I´ll take them myself. Just get the hell out of here."

"Armie, what are..."

"Go!"

She rolls her eyes, sticks her tongue out to him and storms out of the room as Armie turns back to the computer and opens the pages once again, bringing his old research back. He bites on his lip, takes a few looks at some of the headlines and clicks on an article, his cheeks turning bright pink as he lets his eyes wander down everything that´s written there.

  
  


****************

  
  


Timothée closes the door behind him, places his keys in his pocket and lets his eyes wander around the house for a minute before placing his backpack on the hanger. He can smell booze, he can see the empty vodka bottles behind the couch and the pieces of clothing scattered around the living room. It's still early in the morning, his mother is probably still asleep, which would explain why everything is so quiet, but it doesn't take him long to spot his father crunched down on the kitchen, probably searching for more booze he can drink.

Their eyes meet and Timothée can feel the common shiver of fear go down his spine. He wishes he could remember a time where he would look at his father and feel love, but as the days go by it becomes clearer that never actually happened. He was always scared and his father never really cared. He takes a deep breath, a serious look on his face as he crosses the living room, ready to go straight to his bedroom and lock himself there until his mom is awake, but of course his dad has other ideas.

"Where the fuck were you?"

"Like you give a damn," Timothée mumbles as he walks past his father, only to gasp once he is grabbed by the arm and yanked back. "What the fuck do you want?"

"I asked you where the fuck you were, boy."

"Why do you care? You don't give a damn about me, you never did, so I don't understand why all of a sudden you want to act like the caring father."

"Oh, you think that's what I'm doing?" Matthew laughs, the smell of booze filling Timothée's nostrils. "Your annoying mother was moping around the whole day saying she was worried about you, so while you waste your time with God knows what, I am the one listening to her whining."

"If you're so bothered by it, then just get the fuck out of here and leave us alone."

"Who do you think you are, huh?" His grip tightens around his arm and Timothée winces in pain. "You think twice before talking to me like that, you little piece of shit."

"Why? What are you gonna do? Give me another beating? You do that, but be aware that there are people dying to kick your ass if you lay a hand on me."

A loud laugh escapes Matthew, his grip on Timothée's arm tightening as he leans closer, a wicked look on his face. "No one gives a fuck about you, boy, the sooner you understand that, the better your life will be. You're alone, no one will ever waste their time with you."

"I'm not you," Timothée says between a couple of tears and grunts as he is slammed against the wall, the photo frames around him falling to the ground. "I'm not like you, I have friends, I have people who care and love me."

"That's what they want you to think, but once you turn your back, they're laughing at you. You're disposable, a worthless piece of shit and no one will ever waste their time with you."

"Fuck you."

"Your mother should have listened to everyone who told her to get rid of you, but she was weak."

"Shut the fuck up."

"What? You can't handle the truth? I thought you were tough."

"I fucking hate you."

"Good, the feeling is mutual." Matthew says before slapping Timothée across the face, sending him to the ground. He gives the boy one last look, pure anger in his eyes before he turns around and walks away, slamming the door shut behind him.

Timothée quickly gets back on his feet, a hand resting on his burning cheek as he tries to hold back the tears. He turns around, sees his mother walk down the hallway confused and before she can reach out for him, he runs to his bedroom, locks the door behind him and lets out a loud scream, trying his best to take all the anger and frustration that he has trapped inside of him.

"Timmy, what happened? Let me in."

"Fuck off!" He shouts, fingers knotted on his hair as he looks around the place, the tears falling down his cheeks, his heart pounding on his chest. He scream again and again, his chest and throat burning, but he doesn't care, he just needs to let it out.

His first target is the shelf near the door, he furiously throws all the contents to the ground, hearing the chatter of glass and the old prizes he won at school bend with the impact. The books come next, then the skate, the bed sheets and anything else he can find.

He doesn't want all that anger inside of him.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anger can have dangerous consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are not easy for Timothée.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 22**

  
  


**//now_playing//** _ Youth of the Nation - P.O.D. _

 

The first chords of the guitar blast on the earphones as he nearly drags himself down the street, hands inside his pockets, his head down and the hoodie covering most of his face, hiding his still sore eyes from anyone ́s stare. His body tenses up the closer the school building gets, his annoyance with the place, the people and life in general building up more and more deep inside of him. He hates to feel this way, but it seems like this is the only feeling that is actually constant within him; whenever he fools himself with the idea that things might change, that he might actually find happiness, the universe has a way of showing him the truth. 

And that truth hurts more than anything else.

Timothée steps inside the building with his jaw clenched, his hands now turned into fists, which makes him wince in pain, but at least reminds him he still alive. He can hear the whispers, the now common mocking that goes on whenever people walk past him, but he ignores everything and makes it to his locker as fast as he possibly can. He nearly sticks his head inside of it, the desire to scream from the top of his lungs almost taking him over.

It doesn´t really seem like going to school was a good idea, but it was either that or staying home and that was not an option he was willing to take.

"Hey man, what´s up?"

Timothée sighs. Zac´s voice seems distance over the loud music, but he can still hear his friend and he just wishes he wouldn´t have seen him. He´s reaching a point where´s nearly impossible for him to hide his frustration and the last thing he wants is to risk lashing out on Zac. 

"Are you okay?"

Timothée simply nods his head, not daring to look at his friend or utter a word. He takes a couple of deep breaths, reaches for his books and stuffs them inside his backpack, his eyes wandering to his right hand for a quick second.

"Tim, what is going on?"

He slams the locker shut, the loud sound echoing throughout the whole corridor and causing some people to turn towards them. Zac looks around for a second, takes a step closer to Timothée and frowns as he notices the red eyes and a bruise on his cheek.

"What happened to your face?"

"Nothing happened," he fixes the strap of his backpack, feeling Zac´s eyes on him the entire time and all he wants to do is run away.

"Timothée, talk to me."

"There´s nothing to talk," his says quickly, his voice strangely aggressive. "I´m not in the mood for chatting today, so if you excuse me, I´m gonna go to class."

The rather soulless look on Timothée´s face is frightening to Zac, who has never seen his friend this way before. He reaches for Timothée before he can actually walk away and watches in shock as he squirms away from his touch, a look of fear taking over his eyes.

"What the fuck is going on with you?"

"I´ve already told you, there´s nothing going on."

"That's not the way you react to a friend reaching out for you, Tim. So yeah, there´s something going on and if you tell me, I might be able to help you."

"I don´t need any help. I´m perfectly fine."

"Okay, so you expect me to pretend I haven´t seen the bruise on your cheek or the bandage on your hand?"

Timothée looks down at his hand, the bandage nearly covering his whole palm and sighs. Usually this is the time he would make up a story about an accident at home or with his skate, but he´s drained and not really in the mood for anything. Let alone for people´s pity.

"As long as you leave me alone, Zac, do whatever the fuck you want."

"Timothée..."

He stares at Zac for a second more before turning on his heels and heading down the hallway. There are a few tears threatening to fall, but he wipes them before it gets worse. With a deep breath, he makes inside class, a few people turning to look at him as he throws himself down on a chair. It´s gonna be a long day.

  
  


**************

  
  


**< armie>** _r u alright?_

_     thought we could do something 2night _

_     txt me when u get out of school _

_    i miss u _

 

Armie stares down at the small screen of his phone with a frown, the silence that comes from Timothée since the previous day a little daunting to him, but he is trying his best not to overthink things and make a big deal out of the situation. Maybe he spent some quality time with his mother, went to bed early and is focused on his classes; just because he is quiet, doesn´t necessarily means he is in danger.

He sighs at the lack of replies, tosses the phone to the side and turns around on his stool, clicking on yet another article he has found on the internet. Ever since he found out the truth about what happened with Timothée and his family, Armie has taken time to search more about alcoholism, physical and verbal abuse, but also the struggles victims go through. He ain´t stupid though, Armie is aware that researches won´t help him fully understand what Timothée is going through, but he promised to help in some way and he will do that, no matter what it takes.

His eyes wander down the article, biting on his lip as he reads some rather intense and gruesome reports from people who have been on Timothée´s shoes. He hates to read those things, to think of all the pain not only his boyfriend, but everyone in this situation has to go through. Armie always thought he had it bad for having a family that did not understand him, but they never laid a hand on him.

"The effects of verbal abuse on teenagers?" 

Paul´s voice startles Armie, who groans and turns around to face his boss, a small but reassuring smile on his face. He tries to come up with something to say, knowing well enough Paul isn´t stupid and won´t simply accept whatever excuse he gives him.

"Why are you searching about something like this, Armie?"

"I just stumbled here," Armie says with a shrug.

"I´m not a fool, Armie, and this is not a joke. Abuse is something extremely serious and you don´t simply stumble on an article about it, so tell me what´s going on."

"There´s nothing going on, okay? I was talking to a friend about it and decided to do a bit more research on it."

"Armie..."

"I´m fucking serious. You don´t have to worry about anything, because I´m alright."

"Are you sure? Because you know you can always talk to me if you need it."

"I know and I appreciate it, but there´s nothing to say. Just relax and go do your job, I´ll be fine."

Paul nods, still a bit unsure. "If you´re saying everything´s alright I´m gonna trust you, but if there is something going on, don´t hesitate to ask for help."

"I´ll remember that." He smiles and Paul nods once more before grabbing his things and heading out of the store, leaving Armie alone. He looks back at the computer, closes the pages he had open and check on his phone one last time, sighing as he sees Timothée remains silent.

"Armie Hammer," Jake´s voice fills the room like thunder and Armie quickly looks up at him. "What are you and your boyfriend doing tonight?"

"Nothing really. Why?"

"Because there´s a concert tonight at the new club in the pier and I brought five tickets, so I thought you guys could join me and Mark."

"What´s the catch?"

"Nothing, I just want my friend and his boyfriend to join me for the night and have some fun."

"It sounds fun, actually. But I haven´t talked to him all day, so I don´t really know if he´s in the mood for it or not."

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, but he left yesterday morning before I was even awake and all I got was a text last night. I know it´s probably nothing serious, because he would talk to me if something was happening, but I can´t help myself."

"Like you said yourself, if there was something going on he would tell you. So just relax a little, I´m sure he´s just busy or something."

Armie nods his head, although he is still unsure on whether he believes this or not. Timothée knows how angry he gets whenever they talk about his father, maybe he would lie, maybe he would keep things from him, even if only to make sure he wouldn´t do anything stupid.

  
  


***************

  
  


Timothée slams the door shut behind him, throws his backpack to the side and takes a quick look around the living room, slightly relieved that there is no one around. He makes it to the kitchen, stares into the fridge for a couple of minutes, but resorts to a simple glass of water before walking to his bedroom.

His mother is standing there, cleaning up some of the mess that was left from his outburst the night before. She looks at him over her shoulder, a smile of relief taking over her face as she runs towards him. Timothée steps back before she can wrap her arms around him, shakes his head and tries his best to keep as much distance as possible.

Eleanor frowns, eyeing Timothée up and down. She hasn´t seen her son since he locked himself in the bedroom the night before and he wasn´t home when she woke up, so although a part of her did believe he was simply at school, there was something inside of her that made her feel terribly scared. She notices the bandage on his hand and walks towards him, grabbing his hand in hers even when he tries to pull away.

"Stop it and tell me what happened."

"Nothing happened."

"You have a bandage on your hand, Timothée. Something did happen and I want you to tell me right now."

"Why do you care?"

"Because I´m your mother and I care about you."

"Do you really? Don´t you think that life would have been better if you had gotten rid of me like everyone told you to?"

Her face softens, the annoyance at the way he was acting now being replaced by sadness and fear. "Who the hell told you that?"

"Who do you think? He made sure to drop that while he made sure I remembered that no one really gives a damn about me."

"That´s not true, Timmy."

"What part of it?"

"People care about you, okay? I care about you and..."

"Do you?"

"Of course I do, Timmy."

"Really? Because I´m reaching a point that I don´t even know anymore, I tell you I´m tired of being a punching bag and you do nothing, I do my best to protect you from him, but sometimes it seems like you don´t even want to be protected. I´m tired, I just want a normal life."

"I´m sorry, I´m so sorry for putting you through this, it was never my intention."

Timothée nods, the soulless look coming back to his puffy eyes. "Maybe you should have gotten rid of me."

"Timothée, don´t you dare say something like this ever again."

"Why not? I have a feeling everyone´s life would be a lot better if I wasn´t around."

"Timothée, that´s absolutely not..." Eleanor sighs, watches as Timothée walks out of the bedroom and follows him down the hallway and back to the living room. "Timothée, come back here and talk to me."

"I don´t wanna talk."

"Look at me, Timothée."

He simply shakes his head, tosses his phone and keys on the dining table and makes his way to the door, Eleanor watching him with desperation. 

"Timothée, you didn´t even tell me what happened to your hand. Timothée! Timothée, get back here!"

The door slams close and she can only sigh, tears already streaming down her face There´s a pain in her chest that she simply can´t cope, air seems thicker and her entire body shakes. Timothée has been sad and moody, but he has never acted this way before. She looks around the room, reaches for his phone and goes through his contact list and his messages, seeing both Zac and Armie´s name there.

Although she doesn´t know him, has never even heard his name before, Eleanor clicks on Armie´s name and watches as the messages exchanged by the boys come to view. It only takes a couple of messages for her to realize this isn´t just a friend, and the realization of it can´t help but make her even more worried about her son. She takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself down and takes the phone with her, there´s no way Matthew can come close to those messages.

 

  
  


***************

  
  


Armie´s eyes instantly wander around the skatepark as he arrives there with his friends, the silence from Timothée remains something that worries him, but he is doing his best to keep himself together and not do or say anything too drastic. He hates the idea that Timothée would rather go through something bad alone than tell him the truth.

He spots Zac sitting on the ground, his back against the wall as he looks down at his phone. Their eyes meet suddenly and Zac instantly stands up, the worried look on his face only making Armie feel worse. He turns to his friends, who are completely lost in conversation, and then back at Zac, running towards him as fast as he possibly can.

"Have you seen Timmy?"

"So he´s not with you," Zac mumbles as Armie cocks an eyebrow. 

"You haven´t heard of him either?"

"No, he was at school, but he was acting really weird."

"What you mean?"

"He was aggressive, he freaked out when I tried to touch him, he had a bruise on his cheek and..."

"A bruise?"

"Yeah, like he got slapped or something."

"Fuck," Armie mumbles, his hands already turning into fists as anger builds up inside of him.

"He also had a bandage on his right hand."

"What the fuck?" He sighs, trying his best to keep himself cool. "Didn´t he tell you anything?"

"He barely looked me in the eye, Armie, and when I tried to get something out of him, he snapped at me. There´s something wrong going on with Timmy, but I´m pretty sure you know what it is. Right?"

"What you talking about?"

"Timmy is hiding something from me and at first I thought it was his thing with you, but after I actually stopped to think about it, this has been going on for months. I don´t know why he is hiding things from me, but I know he is and I know you know what it is."

"I do know, but you need to understand that is not my place to tell you anything. Timothée loves you, you´re like a brother to him and I am sure he will tell you everything when he feels ready."

"So until then I worry about him without knowing what to do to help?"

"Help him by telling me where to find him." 

"You´re the one who found him the last time, so I´m not really sure I can help you here."

"You know where he lives."

"He´ll hate me for telling you this."

"Why would he?"

"He hates that place, Armie, that much I know. I think he´s a little ashamed of the house and the neighborhood. But if you think stopping by will help, then sure, I´ll give you the address."

Armie nods, letting out a long breath of relief. He hears his phone ringing and reaches for it, a confused look upon his face as he sees it´s Timothée the one calling.

"He´s calling me."

"Oh, thank God."

"Hey Tim, we´re looking for you, where..."

"It´s not Timothée," the voices confuses Armie even more, but he remains silent until the woman goes on talking. "This is Eleanor, I´m Timothée´s mother."

"Oh...ummm...hi."

"I saw your messages and I was desperate, so I thought you could be the one to help me."

_ I saw your messages _ , that phrase alone brings shivers down Armie´s spine and he pretty much doesn't hear anything that comes after it. In his head, all he can think about is that she´s to scream at him and tell him to stay away from her son. He stops, takes a deep breath and tries to concentrate on her words, knowing finding Timothée is the most important right now.

"Help you with what?"

"Timothée left the house, leaving everything behind. He´s angry and sad, I´m scared he might do something he will regret."

"Did he say where he was going?"

"He barely looked at me, let alone talk."

"Look Mrs. Chalamet," Zac turns to Armie with wide eyes, but he shakes his head, trying to make sure he stays calm. "I will do my best to find him and make sure he is safe. You don´t have to worry."

"Thank you, Armie."

"No need for that."

"Call his phone if you find him, please. I need to know my son is alright."

"I will do that," Armie says before hanging up the phone. "It was his mom, he stopped by at home, but left already and she´s worried he will do something bad."

"He always said this skatepark was his safe place, Armie. I don´t know where else he could be."

Armie bites on his lip, a hand landing on Zac´s shoulder as memories of the last time this happened take him over. "But I think do."

  
  


***************

 

Timothée sits down on the wooden floor, his back leaned against the wall, his eyes closed as he listens to the ocean, doing whatever he can to calm himself down. It has been an emotionally tiring day, all the anger he had buried deep inside of him seems to have come to surface and he isn't sure how to deal with it. To be fair, he isn't actually sure if there is even a way to deal with all of this.

His father will never change, his mother can't seem to build up enough strength to do something about her life and him, well he doesn't even know what to do with himself, let alone how to truly help his mother in a safe way. Being with Armie, having him close to him, for once Timothée felt like things were going the right way, but one simple encounter with his father and everything goes downhill.

Maybe he shouldn't have allowed his father to get the best of him, he should have ignored every single thing he said to him last night, but that's easier said than done. He's only human and it's never an easy thing to hear that you were unwanted by everyone around you.

He takes on a deep breath, opens his eyes as he hears footsteps and stares down at Armie, who stands leaned against the rail. He sighs, pushes some of his hair back and sits up straight, silently watching as Armie walks up the ramp, a small smile on his lips and a caring look on his eyes.

"I think I need to find myself a new place to hide."

"Bold of you to assume I wouldn't find you anywhere else. You're stuck with me, dude, there's no running away."

"I'm not exactly a good company today, Armie."

"So I've heard," he says while Timothée arches an eyebrow. "Your mom and Zac talked to me."

"My mom? How the hell did she..."

"You left your phone home, so she looked through it and found our messages."

"Fuck," he mumbles, shaking his head.

"After reading it, she assumed I was the most suited person to find you."

"Seems like she was right."

"Seems like it," Armie sighs and takes a seat down beside him.

His arm wraps around Timothée's shoulder immediately, bringing his body closer to his. He smiles softly down at Timothée as he leans his head on his shoulder and his hand on his thigh. Armie strokes his arm with his thumb, giving Timothée time to think or cry as much as he would like.

"Will you tell me what happened?"

"Can we not talk right now?" He looks up at Armie for a moment, tears streaming down his bruised cheek. "Can we just sit here in silence, please?"

"Whatever you want, Tim. I just want to make sure you're okay "

"I am," he says with the best smile he can master, but Armie shoots him a look. "Fine, I'm not okay, but I will be."

"Okay. Then we're gonna sit here and watch the ocean, feel the breeze and enjoy the silence."

"I'm sorry, you shouldn't have to put up with all of this shit."

Armie leans closer, cradling Timothée's face as he places a soft kiss on his lips. He feels Timothée's hands on his arms, holding tight onto him and keeping him close, which makes him smile. Armie knows it's not an easy life, he knows the problems Timothée faces are delicate, but by now it's pretty obvious he can't go on without him.

"I don't care about anything other than your well being, Tim. So talk whenever you feel like it, I'll be here to listen."

"Thank you," Timothée says while leaning his head back on Armie's shoulder, his fingers playing with the hole on his jeans. He sighs, closes his eyes and snuggles closer to Armie, the first smile of the day creeping on the corner of his lips as Armie holds him tight.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revelations and romance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let´s find out more about exactly what happened with Timmy, while also figure out more about his life with his mom and dad.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 23**

  
  


The beach is silent, the ocean is calm and on the lifeguard stand, Armie sits down with his head leaned against the wooden structure, his fingers lazily stroking Timothée´s hair, while the younger boy lies on the floor, his head resting on Armie´s lap. His eyes wander down to Timothée from time to time, the sad look on his face heartbreaking, the sight of the bandage on his hand, nearly bringing shivers down Armie´s spine.

Timothée has his eyes stuck on the ocean, watching as the waves slowly crash on the shore. It feels calming to be with Armie, feel his touch and his warmth, know that he is right there beside him for whatever may happen, even if Timothée himself might doubt that a couple of times. He simply wishes he didn´t have to put Armie through all of this.

Armie looks down as Timothée moves, his fingers curling around his hair and their eyes locking as he smiles. He knows as much as he is trying to keep it cool, there's absolutely no way Timothée hasn´t noticed the worry in his eyes. 

"Are you okay to talk now?"

"I guess so."

"Okay, let´s try it out then. What happened?"

"What happened was that I made the foolish mistake of leaving your place yesterday." He answers while intertwining his fingers with Armie´s, whose hand is resting on his stomach. "I got home and my father was there, sober or at least as sober as he can be. I tried to walk past him and go straight to my bedroom, just avoid him as much as possible, but he wouldn´t have it. He slammed me against the wall and said some of the worst things he has ever said to me."

Timothée sighs and suddenly, Matthew´s voice is all he can hear. He closes his eyes for a second, takes on a deep breath and tries to keep himself calm, remember he is safe and with someone who actually cares about him.

"He told me everyone around my mom wanted her to get rid of me, that no one really cared about me. And by now I know I should never really listen to the things he says, but you didn´t see the look in his eyes while he said those things, Armie. He meant every word he was saying."

"Timothée that´s not true, there´s a lot of people who care about you."

"Then why do I always feel so alone?"

Armie blinks a couple of times, a sigh escaping him as he tries to wrap his head around what Timothée has just said. It's painful to see someone he cares feel this way, it's terrifying to know that even when he seems happy, Timothée still has all this sadness buried deep inside of him.

"I´m sorry," Timothée whispers as Armie looks back at him. "Is not that I´m not happy when I´m with you, because I am. You´re the only person who can take my mind out of all the problems I have, when I am with you, I feel safe. The problem is that life always finds a way to bring me back to reality and yesterday it hit me hard. Hearing him say those words, made all the anger I had pumped up inside of me come out and I just wanted to be left alone, I wanted to grieve by myself and in the end I hurt the people around me."

"Your mom and Zac are not hurt or mad, they´re simply worried about you, Tim. Just like I was and you know why? Because we all care about you, so don´t even think of accepting your father´s words as the truth."

Timothée bites on his lip, but nods his head anyway, even if he knows agreeing to this is easier than actually doing it. He can´t control his feelings, he doesn´t know what might happen next time he sees his father, all he knows is that he can try his best to not let anything he says get the best of him.

"What happened with your hand?"

Timothée looks down at the bandaged hand and shrugs. "I got so mad I locked myself in my bedroom, tore almost everything down to the ground and end up cutting myself when I went to try and clean it up."

"You know you don´t have to lie to me, right?"

"What are you...," Timothée looks down at his hand once again and then back at Armie, shaking his head. "I didn´t try to cut myself, Armie."

"Timothée..."

"It was an accident, Armie. I yelled, I cried, I threw everything to the ground, when I calmed myself down a little, I tried to clean everything, but I think some random frame fell down and I cut myself on the broken glass. I would never do anything against myself, that you don´t have to worry about."

"Okay, I trust you."

"Thank you."

Armie shrugs, leans down to place a soft kiss on Timothée´s lips and smiles, his thumb stroking his forehead. "How about we head back to my place, you can get a shower, get some warm clothes and I will take care of that wound."

"Sounds good to me."

"Okay, then let´s go." Armie gets up and pulls Timothée up with him. They stand there for a moment, Armie´s hands cradling his face, a warm and reassuring smile on his lips. "You can always count on me, okay?"

"I know that and I can´t thank you enough."

"A kiss is enough of a thank you for me, to be honest."

Timothée scoffs, leans on his tiptoes and places a quick kiss on Armie´s lips before wrapping his arms around his waist and his head down on his chest.

  
  


*************

  
  


Timothée sits down on the bed, Armie´s sweatpants on as he stares down at the cut in his hand with a frown. He can still remember the sudden pain he felt, the way the glass brushed against his skin and cut it open. It was a relief to notice the cut had not been too deep, the last thing he needed was his clumsy self inflicting even more pain in himself. His father was enough.

He takes the mug that its in between his legs, places it down on the nightstand and lets his eyes wander to Armie as he walks in, locking the door behind him. He´s holding a first aid kit on his hand, his eyes are kind and reassuring, just like he has been for most of the night. Timothée needs to always keep in mind that no matter how bad his life might seem, he does have Armie, someone who truly cares and respects him.

"Okay, let's put a bandage back on." Armie says while sitting down on the edge of the bed, his hand carefully placing Timothée´s on his lap. He wets some cotton on antibiotic, cleans the cut and smirks as Timothée winces a little at the burning sensation. "Remember the pain and maybe you won´t be that clumsy anymore."

"Thank you, Doctor Hammer, I´ll make sure to remember that."

Armie chuckles and wraps the bandage around Timothée´s hand, making sure it´s tight enough not to get any dirt in, but not enough to make it uncomfortable. With his eyes locked on Timothée, Armie leans down and places a kiss right on the center of his palm, where the cut is supposed to be.

Timothée smiles and watches Armie place the kit down before moving to the bed, sitting right next to him. He closes his eyes, feels Armie´s finger trace his arm and then his hot breathing against his neck, his wet lips placing kisses on his shoulder. He bites on his lip, smiles and cocks his head to the side, allowing Armie all the access he can get. 

He wets his lips, sighs in contentment as he feels Armie´s hand slide down his chest and feels the now normal tingling that goes through his whole body whenever Armie gets too close. He turns to the side, opens his eyes to find Armie staring at him and feels his cheeks blush. Armie chuckles, leans down to capture him in a slow kiss and Timothée nearly loses his breath when his hand slides further down and rests on top of his crotch.

"Armie...."

"I told I´d make you feel better, help you forget everything, so just let me do it."

Timothée swallows dryly, his eyes locked on Armie as he nods his head slowly. He watches carefully as Armie swings a leg over his body and leans down to kiss his neck, his shoulder blades and then down his chest, all the while his fingers play with the waistband of his sweatpants.

He slides further down on the bed, lying on his back while Armie pulls his pants down his legs and throws it to the ground. Their eyes meet once more, the glee on Armie´s eyes allowing Timothée to see just how exhilarated he is. He smiles down at him from the corner of his lips, the fire that builds up inside of him keeping him from making any coherent words that could possibly describe what he is feeling right now.

Not that he really needs to say anything, because he can tell Armie knows exactly how he is feeling and how avid he is for them to move forward. Their synchrony is bigger than everything and right now it´s not really different.

Timothée grabs onto the sheets, bites on his lips and feels his breathing gets shallower as Armie´s lips suck onto his inner thighs and his warm hand wraps around his cock. A little gasp escapes him when he starts stroking him, his body tingling with excitement. It´s mind blowing to Timothée to be in such a position and feel his whole body aching for Armie, his mind nearly going into short circuit.

He has had a total of three blowjobs in his life and all of them required Timothée a lot of mental effort to make sure he got off, since the girls´ skills just wasn´t enough; but here he is, lying on Armie´s bed, completely immersed in pleasure and Armie has barely touched him yet.

But when he does it, Timothée can barely contain himself. Armie starts slowly, tracing his cock with his tongue, which is enough to cause Timothée to thrash around on the bed, but when he actually wraps his lips around his cock, he throws his head back, a long moan dragging from his lips.

He locks eyes with Armie, his cheeks blushing as he sees the older boy lying in between his legs, blue eyes on him and lips stretched. He takes a couple of deep breaths, licks his lips and tries to calm himself down as much as possible, since this isn´t something he wants it to end too fast.

When Armie starts bobbing his head up and down, his tongue teasingly twirling around his sensitive head, Timothée shudders and closes his eyes, a hand sliding down his body and over to Armie´s head. He doesn´t push him down or forces him to go any faster, he likes it just the way it is, but he needs to feel more of Armie, he needs any contact he can possibly get.

Suddenly, having Armie lying in between his legs is no longer a dream or a fantasy.

 

***************

 

Armie leans against the sink, a bowl on his hand as he mixes some eggs and cheese. He yawns, his tired eyes wandering to the stove where some bacon is frying. He has spent an awful lot of time lying awake during the night, watching Timothée sleep beside him, a peaceful look on his face. Sadly, even after what happened between them the night before, it was hard for Armie to simply push back all the sadness he had seen in Timothée´s eyes.

He looks up as he hears a door opening and footsteps, smiles over at Lois as she drags herself through the living room and takes a seat on one of the stools, leaning her elbows on the counter. He chuckles, passes her the coffee pot and then turns back to the stove, dumping the mix into a frying pan.

"It´s a little bit early for you to be up, isn´t it?"

"Definitely, but Timmy has to go to school and I wanted to make him a nice breakfast."

"How is him?"

"He´s alright. We talked a little bit last night, he explained everything that happened and by the time he went to sleep he was feeling a lot better with himself."

"I´m glad, he deserves some peace of mind."

"He does, although I don´t know when he will get it."

"What you mean?"

"He admitted that he feels quite lonely most of the time and for a moment I thought I wasn´t doing a good job at being a supportive boyfriend, which wouldn´t surprise me. But then he explained everything and I realized it´s even worse than that. The truth is, no matter what I do, he might always feel this way."

"He has been going through a lot, Armie, and this whole thing will leave scars for the rest of his life."

"I know," Armie sighs, turns off the stove and takes a seat across from Lois. "I´ve been doing some research on the effects of abuse and it´s so heartbreaking to read all those things, Lois. I hate to know he is going through all of that and that I can´t help him in any way."

"That´s not true," she reaches out for him, taking Armie´s hand in hers. "Armie, you care so much about Timothée, you listen to him and you respect him. All he truly needs right now is someone he can trust, someone who will love and support him, which are things you are already doing."

"You really think so?"

"If you don´t believe me, then talk to him, but I think Timmy has realized that he can count on you."

"I might do that. Thank, Lois."

Lois shrugs, a small smile on her lips. "You and Timothée can count on me whenever you want."

"I know that and I truly appreciate." He kisses her hands and then sighs, hoping off of the stool. "I´m gonna go wake him up now, maybe I can even talk to him about all of this a little bit."

"You do that, I think it´s important for both of you to understand each other´s perspective on this situation."

"Thanks again."

"Just go," Lois says as Armie rushes around the kitchen and places two plates and mugs on a tray, kisses her cheek and heads down the hallway. 

Armie opens the door slowly, smiles as he watches Timothée folding the sheets and fixing the bed. He places the tray down on the desk, closes the door behind him and walks over to him, wrapping his arms around his waist while placing a kiss on his cheek.

"Good morning."

"Morning," Armie says in between kisses. "I made us some breakfast, I don´t want you to go to school on an empty stomach."

"I´m not going to school, Armie."

"Timothée..."

"Wait," he whispers while turning around on Armie´s arms, his hands resting on his chest. "I´m feeling a lot better today, but I think I deserve a little break from school and all that silly gossip that's going around. I´ll text Zac and see if he wants to talk after class is over or later today, but I really just want to stay in and do nothing."

"I have to go to work today, but if you want, you can stay here."

"Thank you, I appreciate."

Armie shrugs, places a sweet kiss on Timothée´s lips and cradles his face, his thumb stroking his cheeks. "So, since we actually have a bit more time, maybe we could talk for a moment."

Timothée frowns, stares at Armie and can easily tell what he wants to talk about, which he isn´t quite sure he wants to do. He pulls away from Armie, walks over to the desk and let´s his fingers run through some of the illustrations and little sketches spread around.

"Tim, c´mon."

He looks over his shoulder and watches as Armie sits down on the edge of the bed, his eyes pleading for a moment. He sighs, bites on his lip and takes a few steps closer, still a bit unsure of whether or not to actually do this.

“Sit down, please.” Armie gestures to the bed and Timothée sighs, taking a seat across from him and watching as Armie reaches out to hold his hand. He smiles softly, his blue eyes down as he takes a couple of deep breaths. “I know you said you wanted to keep this conversation to a minimum whenever we were together, but I can't keep those feelings for myself. I know you might get angry at me right now, you're gonna tell me I don't understand, but I want to help you and your mother, I want to make sure you're safe. So please, just let me talk to my parents, I'm sure they would help us, we can get a lawyer and your mom will be free from that man...and so will you.”

“You're right, Armie, you don't understand how difficult it is to be in a situation like this, but I don't blame you. Actually I'm glad you don't understand, because it means you never had to go through it and that's how it should be for everyone. But please, let me tell you something about abusive relationships, okay?”

Armie simply nods, his expression serious, his eyes locked on Timothée.

“Abusive marriages are not something easily solved, specially when there's kids involved. These men are not simply beating up their wives, they are manipulating them, making them feel small and irrelevant to the world. These men don't care about these women's lives or their kids, they just want to make sure they own them and that they are powerful enough to do whatever they want. They threaten their wives, make sure they know if they even think of telling anyone they will kill them or even worse, do something against their child, that fear is what keeps them from leaving because they know they can and will do this. But there are women who are strong enough to leave, despite the threats and the fear, they get a divorce, they get as far away from that man as possible and you know what happens with a lot of them? They get killed anyway, because they mean absolutely nothing to those men.”

Armie swallows dryly, his heart beating so fast inside his chest it seems like it's about to burst. It hurts to see Timothée talk about this, it hurts to see the pain and tears in his eyes.

“I´ve heard my father threat to kill me if my mom does or says anything, I've heard him tell she's worthless and that she will never find anyone who will truly care about her. She wants to leave, I know she does, because no one wants to feel or be treated that way, but she also cares about me enough to endure a life of pain to make sure I am at least alive. Do I get frustrated and angry? Hell yeah, almost every damn day I stop to think about it, but I'm going through the same thing she is, so I can understand her better than anyone. She´s not weak, she just doesn't know what to do, how to reach a point where she can leave and still make sure we´re safe and sound.”

“I'm so sorry,” Armie mumbles as he looks down at their hands.

“She has talked to the police before, you know? They went to our house, they talked to my dad, left and never came back.”

“But that's…”

“That's how women are treated. A man´s word is worth a lot more than the bruises she has on her face.”

“Fuck…”

“Armie, I'm not asking you to understand or agree to everything. All I need from you is support and respect for my decision. If you can do that for me, you're already doing a lot more than anyone has ever done.”

“I promise you I will be by your side, no matter what you decide to do. Just don't give up, okay? Keep trying to find a way out of this and when you do, talk to me and let me help you.”

“I´ll do that.”

Armie nods, wrapping his arms around Timothée and bringing his body close to his in a tight hug. He bites on his lip, trying to keep himself from crying, but can barely manage to do so as Timothée leans his forehead against his shoulder, his sobbing increasing its volume by the second.

  
  


**************

 

**//now_playing//** _ Don´t Speak - No Doubt _

 

Armie sighs, dividing some cds in stacks. He´s bored out of his mind at work today, his mind constantly wandering back to Timothée, who stayed at his place all by himself. It´s not like he is worried about him disappearing again or doing anything to himself, Armie could tell he was honest when he said he never attempted anything against his own life or that he was indeed feeling better. The issue was, Armie couldn´t stop thinking about him anyway, he wanted to be with him, have his arms wrapped around him, kiss him and spend hours listening to his cute laugh.

"Hey, stranger."

He looks over his shoulder a bit confused, a small smile appearing on the corner of his lips as he sees Alex standing there. She has her usual bright red lipstick while she smiles broadly at him, although her green eyes are clearly not that ecstatic.

"Hey, Alex. What you doing here?"

"I just wanted to stop by and see how you´re doing. It´s been nearly two weeks since we last saw each other and I barely heard from you, I got a little worried to be honest."

"Oh, there´s absolutely no need for that. I´m doing great, actually. Just had a lot of stuff to deal with, that´s all."

"I stopped by the skatepark yesterday, but Jake said you left a couple of minutes before I got there."

"Yeah, I had to go somewhere."

"What are you doing tonight?" Armie shrugs and Alex smiles, taking a few steps closer to him. "I thought that maybe we could go out? The club at the pier is doing a whole week of concerts, some awesome indie bands are featured and I think it would be great to go."

"That sounds really cool, Alex, but I don´t think I can make it."

"Why not?"

"Alex, you´re asking me on a date."

"What´s so wrong with that?"

"You know I have someone else, so I don´t even understand why you would do this."

She sighs, shaking her head. "Armie, you don´t have to lie to me."

"I´m not lying to you."

"So who the hell is this mysterious girlfriend of yours, huh? Because as far as I'm concerned, no one has seen you with anyone lately." Armie cocks an eyebrow, goes to say something but Alex cuts him off before he can even say the first word. "I get it, okay? I was getting clingy and you wanted to find a way to bring me back to reality, make me understand that we will never have anything serious, but you didn´t have to lie to me, Armie."

"Wait a second, are you spying on me?"

"No, I´m not."

"No, you´re just asking around about me."

"Yes, I did and everyone I asked had the exact same answer. No one has seen you with anyone the past few weeks, so what do you expect me to believe?"

"I expect you to listen to me, Alex. I don´t like you the way you wish I did, I like someone else and I am happy with that person, but my relationship is none of your business."

"Armie..."

"I'm in love with someone else."

"In love," Alex whispers, more as reassuring that she heard him right then a question. She blinks a couple of times, her lips twitching in an attempt to say something, but the truth is she doesn't know if anything she says right now will make any sense. "You're in love?"

Armie simply nods, hands stuck in his pockets and an apologetic smile plastered on his face. Alex looks surprised, but most of all she looks hurt, which is something he never intended to do to her.

"Am I interrupting anything?"

They look over to the door as the voice fills the room, Armie smiling wide as he sees Timothée standing there, while Alex simply sighs. She looks back at Armie, who does his best to keep a serious look on his face and then back at Timothée, shaking her head.

"No, you're not interrupting anything. I was just about to leave." She does look at Armie once more, goes to say something, but resorts for silence, aware there's not really much for her to do right now.

"What happened with her?" Timothée asks as Alex storms out of the store, not even looking back. "Is everything alright?"

"She came here to ask me out."

"Ask you out?" Armie nods and Timothée does the same, raising an eyebrow, which causes him to chuckle. "What?"

"You're jealous."

"Of course not."

"Yes, you are."

"Armie, I'm not jealous of Alex."

"I never really taken you as the jealous type, to be honest."

Timothée glares at him, before letting out a sigh as he shrugs. "Neither did I, but I've never really been in a relationship."

"I think it's kind of cute," Armie says while pulling on Timothée's shirt. He rests his hands on his waist, leans their foreheads together and smiles. "As long as you don't go all crazy on me."

"Stop it."

"Okay, I'll stop."

"So, what exactly happened with Alex?"

"Apparently she has been asking around about me and my girlfriend, but since no one really knows anything, she thought I had came up with that story only to get rid of her." Timothée sighs and Armie slides his hand to his back, his thumb stroking the skin he can find. "Maybe I should just tell her the truth?"

"You know, I was actually thinking about us this morning. There wasn't really much to do all alone at your place, so while I cleaned your room, I kept thinking about our situation and..."

"Wait. You cleaned my room?"

"Yeah, sorry about that, but like I said there wasn't really much to do there all alone and that place was too much of a mess."

"You're unbelievable."

"Anyway, I know things are not always gonna be easy and I am terrified of how my father will react to this when he finds out, but I don't want us to hide ourselves. We are not doing anything wrong, it's not fair that we have to keep ourselves in the shadows because people are stupid enough to hate others simply for being happy." Timothée stares up at Armie, his green eyes wide as he tries to read Armie's expression. "Unless you want to keep things the way they are, because I can totally do that."

Armie doesn't say anything, he simply stares down at Timothée, a nearly imperceptible smile on the corner of his lips.

"Are you gonna say anything or am I gonna have to guess your....," he stops as Armie cradles his face and pulls him in to a sweet and short kiss. "I'll take that as a yes?"

"Yes," Armie whispers before kissing Timothée again, this time a bit more intense. He smiles as he feels Timothée's arms wrap around his waist, his hand grabbing a fistful of his shirt, as if to say he doesn't want to let go of him anytime soon.

"You do know that's not what I am paying you for, right?"

They pull away immediately, eyes wide as they look over at Paul, who stands leaned against the counter, his arms crossed and a serious look on his face.

"Sorry, I just got a little..."

"Caught up?"

"You could say so," Armie says with a shrug. "Paul, this is my boyfriend, Timothée."

Paul smiles and nods in Timothée's direction, before he smirks. "Oh, you're the boy from the drawing."

"What drawing?" Timothée asks confused, his eyes wandering from Paul to Armie, who blushes. "What is he talking about?"

"Nothing. Paul is getting old and doesn't say anything that makes sense anymore."

"Armie...."

"I'm starving, what you say we go grab something to eat?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am starving."

"Armie..."

"Can we please just go?" Armie stares at Timothée for a moment and sighs in relief as he nods his head. He smiles, wraps his arm around his shoulder and turns to look at Paul. "I'll be back in an hour."

"No need to rush, I can handle things on my own."

"Thanks,” Armie says with a smile, his cheeks still bright red.

"I didn't take you as the type to blush," Timothée mocks as Armie laughs, shaking his head.

 

*****************

"....but I know she's desperate for me to go there."

"Then go, Armie. Go over there and talk to her, maybe you'll find out what's been worrying her."

"I doubt she would actually tell me anything..."

"You'll never know if you don't try. Besides, she's your mother and you said yourself she seems to be trying to understand you better, you should do this for her."

He nods, pushing the door to the diner open. "I will do that."

"The new hottest couple has arrived," Jake mocks as Mark laughs, both of them sitting in a booth.

"Very funny, Jake."

"I'm making you guys a compliment here, dude."

Timothée chuckles while sliding on the booth, watching as Armie follows him. He looks down as his hand rests on his thigh and bites on his lip, his cheeks blushing a little bit. As great as it feels, Timothée is sure it will take him a while to get used to showing any type of affection in front of people.

"Oh, since you guys bailed on us yesterday..."

"We didn't bail on you, Jake. I told you Timmy wasn't feeling very well."

Jake turns to Timothée, an eyebrow arched. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine."

"Great, then back to what I was saying. Since you ditched us yesterday, we talked to the guys at the club and they changed our tickets for today's concert. You in?"

Armie looks over at Timothée, who nods his head. "I guess we're going."

"Awesome, it's gonna be dope."

"Do you know who's performing?"

"I got no idea, but it can't be bad."

Mark chuckles, turning to look at Jake. "That's debatable."

"It will be amazing and the five of us are gonna have the time of our lives. Music, booze, hot chicks for us single and straight dudes. What else could we ask for?"

Armie laughs, leans back against the seat and wraps his arm around Timothée's shoulder, pulling him closer to him. He places a quick kiss on the top of his head and smiles as Timothée squeezes his thigh.

 


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It´s club night and a lot can happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There´s some bits with strong language in this chapter, guys, so be aware. Also, at the end of the chapters there´s a link for a little glimpse at Armie´s art.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 24**

__

Timothée sighs as he walks down the dark and silent hallway, the door to his mother's bedroom closed. He knocks on it, waits a second and then opens the door himself, a half smile as he sees her sitting on the bed reading a book. It takes her a while to even notice him, but she jumps out of the bed the moment she does.

He stands still as she wraps her arms around him, hugging him as tight as she possibly can. Timothée looks down at her, takes a breath and then hugs her back, placing a kiss on her hair. There's still some anger and sadness in him, knowing his mother kept things away from him, but he can also understand that this might not have been an easy topic for her. If he's lucky, one day they will be able to sit down and talk about everything that happened with her ever since she got pregnant of him.

"I didn't mean to worry you, mom. But I'm alright, you can relax now."

"I know, Armie made sure to tell me everything was okay with you."

"Of course, I forgot you got a new friend now."

Eleanor smiles, shrugging her shoulders. "He seems like a nice boy."

"He is incredible."

"Is he one of the boys who offered to help you at the skatepark?" Timothée simply nods and she squeezes his shoulder. "I'm happy for you, son. I can tell you really like this boy and I hope you two will be very happy together."

"Thanks, mom."

"I'm just wondering why you didn't tell me anything."

"Because I wasn't sure of how you'd react to the news it wasn't a girl I was going out with."

"I am not your father, Timothée."

"I know that, mom."

She shakes her head, cradling Timothée's face and bringing him closer to her. "It doesn't really matter, the only important thing here is you and your happiness. And it's clear in your eyes how much you care about this boy."

"More than anything."

Eleanor smiles wide, happiness taking over her as she sees the glow in her son's eyes. She takes his hand in hers, leads him to the bed and sits down on the edge, her eyes wandering to the bandage that still covers his right hand.

"Don't worry about it, mom."

"How did this happen?"

"I cut myself while trying to clean up the mess I made on my bedroom."

"Really?"

"Yes, mom."

"I'm sorry, son. I know it wasn't easy to hear the things he said to you, but I need you to remember that I love you more than anything, that I didn't listen to those people because I loved you the moment I found out about you. You're the reason while I'm still here, so don't you ever think you're not wanted."

"Who were those people?" Eleanor sighs, but Timothée gives her a look, pleading her to keep on talking. "Please, mom."

"Your grandmother, some of my aunts and cousins. Our family was going through a very difficult moment, your grandfather had passed away not even three months before and I was only fifteen when I found out I was pregnant, Tim. They thought that would be the best thing for me."

"Have you ever regretted your decision?"

"Never." She says immediately and Timothée sighs in relief. "Hey, how about we watch a movie tonight? Just the two of us?"

"I would love that, mom, but I..."

"You have plans with Armie." He nods, an apologetic look on his face. "It's okay, Tim, don't worry. I am happy knowing you are having fun with your boyfriend and your friends."

"Thanks, mom." 

__**  
  
**

****************

__**  
  
**

The television is on, casting a light on Lois, who´s curled up on the couch, her head down and her eyes distant. She hears the television, but barely pays any attention to what´s being said, her mind working on overdrive. She looks up as she hears a door close and smirks as she sees Armie, in some of this best clothes, walk down the hallway.

"You clean up nice, cousin."

"Thank you very much," he says with a wink as she chuckles. Armie sighs, walks over to her and sits down at the edge of the couch, his hand resting on her legs. "Will you tell me what´s going on with you today? You´ve been awfully quiet ever since I got home and that´s definitely not you."

"Everything´s okay, Armie."

"Why are you lying to me? I thought we always helped each other."

"Steve and I got into a fight," she finally says.

"How bad it was?"

"Bad, really bad."

"I´m sorry, cousin, I know how much you care about this guy. I don´t know why, but I know you do, so I can imagine how bad you´re feeling."

"I´ll be alright, Armie."

"I know you will, you´re a tough girl. But maybe you could put on your best dress and come with me to the club?"

"I don´t think so."

"Oh c´mon, it will be super fun."

"I´m not going to a club with Jake, Armie."

"Fuck Jake, there´s Mark, Zac, Timmy and I for you to talk to."

Lois chuckles, shaking her head. "Seriously, Armie, I´m not in the mood. If I go to this concert today, I might end up bringing you all down and that´s not what I want to do."

"Are you sure? Because I hate to leave you here all alone when you´re feeling like this."

Lois sighs, sits down straight and takes Armie´s hand in hers. "Go out, have fun with your boyfriend on what´s technically your first date and don´t worry about me, because just like you said, I´m a tough girl and I just need some time for myself."

"Okay, but if you change your mind, you know you can just pop up there and we'll gladly help you get over this."

"I know and I thank you for that."

Armie nods, leans in to kiss her forehead and then tucks a few strands of hair behind her ear. "I love you, cousin."

"I love you too."

"Watch a comedy, laugh a little and when you least expect, whatever this fight was about won´t even matter as much as it did."

"Okay, I said you were a good boyfriend, doesn´t mean you suddenly became a master on the subject."

"I like to think I did."

"You like to think you´re the best at something? I´m shocked."

"Hey, don´t mock me, I´m just trying to help."

"Go, your boyfriend is waiting."

"Call me if you need anything," Armie winks and grabs his phone and wallet, sticking them on the back pocket as he walks to the door. He takes one more look at Lois over his shoulder and sighs, a part of him reluctant to leave her alone while she is feeling this way.

__**  
  
**

**************

__

Timothée leans his head back, blowing out the smoke as he walks down the pier with Zac by his side. He can hear the loud music, see the dancing lights that cast shadows on the wooden floor and hear the chatter. Outside the club there are many people gathered around, small groups here and there, laughing, eating or just enjoying themselves. He can see a few familiar faces, some people from school who look at him from the corner of their eyes, but he doesn't even care anymore. He promised himself he would relax and enjoy this night as much as he could; this is his first night out with Armie, he won't give a damn about anyone else.

He nudges Zac and points over to the entrance, pulling his friend with him. They give their tickets out to the lady in front of the door, who Zac can guarantee was giving him a sexy look. Timothée laughs, shambles with his afro, but steps back as Zac turns to him with a furious look on his face. They stop by the rail, watching as downstairs thousands of teenagers crowd around a small stage and a bar.

"This is gonna be a wild night, I can feel it."

"I hope it's not that wild," Timothée says while turning to look at Zac. "I just want a cool night out with my friends and my boyfriend."

"I say that in the most positive way possible, Timmy."

"Hope you're right."

"What could possibly go wrong?"

"A club, filled with people and booze? Yeah, you're absolutely right, nothing can go wrong."

Zac groans, grabs Timothée by the shoulder and shakes him slightly. "Stop being such a pessimist, it's gonna be a great night."

Timothée nods, smiles at Zac and then turns him around, pushing him down the stairs. He looks around for a second, trying to find Armie somewhere, but sighs as he can't spot him. Maybe he hasn't arrived yet, he did text saying he was trying to talk to Lois, who didn't seem very well. He looks back at Zac, who's gesturing to the bar and nods, following his friend.

"Hey, Timothée."

Timothée turns around as he feels a hand land on his shoulder, a small smile on his lips as he sees Alex standing only a few inches away from him, her big green eyes staring straight into his as she smiles broadly.

"Hey, Alex."

"I didn't know you were coming."

_ That's normal considering we don't really know each other _ . That's what he wants to say, but Timothée resorts to a simple shrug of his shoulders.

"Well, here I am."

"I'm glad you're here."

"You are?"

"Yes, I am."

************

Armie chugs down in his beer, his blue eyes wandering around the crowded club as he tries to find Timothée somewhere. He looks up at the entrance, frowns and then turns back at his friends, who are enthusiastically talking about some girls they saw earlier at the pier. He sighs and leans against the wall, his friend's eyes wandering to him immediately.

"What?"

"Can you just chill? Tim will be here soon, Zac texted Mark saying they were on their way."

"They should be here by now."

"Armie, your boyfriend is not a fucking child. Relax, he will be here soon enough."

"Yeah and then you two can be all over each other until we can't even stand to be near you."

Jake laughs, nodding his head. "He's right."

"I'm not you, Jake."

"Of course not, you're a gentleman." He winks and then looks over at Mark, who frowns and cocks his head to the side. "What's wrong?"

"Isn't that Alex talking to Timothée over there?"

Armie pushes himself off of the wall, his eyes wandering in the same direction as Mark's. He can clearly see Timothée leaned against the bar counter, nodding his head repeatedly as Alex nearly throws herself on top of him, a broad smile on her red lips.

"What the hell is going on there?"

"I don't know, but Alex seems very enthusiastic."

"I knew it wasn't a good idea to come here today."

"Because of Alex? Come on, you can handle her."

"You don't get it, Jake. She went to the record store today, asked me out on a date and got clearly pissed when I once again said I was with someone else, now she's here and all I wanted was to have a cool and calm night."

"She's not doing anything, Armie, she's just talking to Tim."

"And you guys call me stupid," Mark says with a chuckle as both Armie and Jake turn to look a him. "Are you guys serious? She went to the store, Armie said he had someone else and now she's here, trying to make him jealous by hitting on Timothée. The only problem is that she has no idea Timothée is the reason why you broke up with her."

Armie and Jake look at one another, then back at where Timothée and Alex stand. She's got her hand resting on Timothée's chest, her body nearly pressed against his. Meanwhile, Timothée has his jaw clenched, his whole body quite tense and even from afar, Armie can tell he is extremely uncomfortable.

"I should do something about this, right?"

Jake shrugs. "Maybe. I mean, she's clearly trying to get into his pants. But that also means you have to come clean with her, which to be fair you should have done since the beginning."

Armie sighs and scratches his head, trying to decide the best way to approach the situation. Suddenly Timothée's eyes find his and he shrugs, while giving him an apologetic smile.

"Okay, I'm going there. I don't know what I'm gonna do, but I'm going there."

"Wait," Mark stands his arm out, keeping Armie from going anywhere. "It seems like he is already doing something."

Armie watches as Timothée pushes himself away from the bar, his hand resting on Alex's shoulder as he leans closer to say something to her. He bites on his lip, confused and curious to know exactly what is going on. He knows he should be there, help Timothée out of the situation, after all this is all happening because of him, but at the same time he knows if he stepped anywhere closer to them, that would only intensify Alex's moves.

He sighs as Timothée takes a step back and turns around, walking on his direction while Alex stays behind, her mouth agape and a frown upon her face. Timothée, on the other hand, has a smirk plastered on his face and as soon as he reaches him, he wraps his arms around his neck, gets on his tiptoes and kisses him. Armie stands still for a second, his eyes wandering from Alex to Timothée, until he relaxes, closes his eyes and holds tight on Timothée's waist, deepening the kiss.

He chuckles as Mark and Jake cheer beside them, pulls away and shoots them a look. He turns back to Timothée, his hands sliding up to his face, his thumbs stroking his cheeks.

"That was a bold move, Timmy."

"She offered me a blowjob, I had to do something."

Armie laughs, shaking his head as Timothée smiles. "Are you serious?"

"She did actually, but only after she noticed you were looking at us."

"I'm so so sorry, I should have told her since the beginning."

"Yes, you should."

"I'm sure that kiss did the job," Jake says with a smirk as Armie throws him another look. "Jesus, can't say anything. C'mon Mark, let's leave the lovebirds alone and find ourselves some hot chicks."

Armie shakes his head, a smile on his face as he turns back to look at Timothée. "For a second I thought you had given up."

"Nope. After the last two days, I think this is exactly what I need."

"So do I." He leans his forehead against Timothée's, his finger tracing his lip slowly, before he lets out a sigh of contentment. "Do you wanna drink or dance?"

"Oh you dance?"

"Not really, it's more like jumping and moving my body back and forth, but it's something."

Timothée chuckles, nodding his head. "Okay, we can try dancing."

__**  
  
**

**************

__

The crowd cheers as the band enters the stage, the loud music making it almost impossible to hear anything else. The bar is filled with people, the bartenders running around trying to attend everyone´s orders. On the corner, Armie moves from side to side, a smug look upon his face as he slowly walks closer to Timothée, who looks at Armie over the cup he is drinking from.

Timothée chuckles, shakes his head and takes a couple of steps back, hitting the wall as Armie smirks. He bites on his lip, his green eyes glistening as he watches Armie trap him in between his arms, which he presses against the wall. Their faces are nearly touching, gleeful grins taking over their faces, the music adding up to the tension that goes on between them.

Armie is the one to close the distance between them, his lips touching Timothée´s. Their kiss starts off slow and sweet, but it doesn´t take much for the kiss to intensify, Timothée´s hands landing on Armie´s waist and pulling him even closer to his body.

He chuckles as Armie pulls away, his lips leaving quick and wet kisses all over his face. Over Armie´s shoulder he can see two guys staring at them, but he averts his eyes and turns his attention back to Armie, who smiles at him oblivious to what is going on. Timothée smiles, his eyes locked on Armie´s, who leans in once more, capturing his lips in a brief kiss.

"....when this place didn´t allow those fags."

Armie stops immediately, cocking an eyebrow as Timothée sighs and shakes his head. He doesn´t pay him much attention, turns around and finds the two guys still staring at them, annoyed looks upon their faces.

"Excuse me, were you talking to us?"

"I was talking about you."

"Armie, this is not worth it," Timothée whispers, holding onto Armie´s arms.

"Well, why don´t you say it to my face instead of whispering around to your friend, huh?"

"You think I´m scared of you, fag?" The man smirks, stepping closer to Armie, who keeps a straight look upon his face. "I said I liked this place better when they didn´t allow fags like you."

"Well, I liked this place better when they didn´t allow assholes like you, but you don´t see me complaining, do you?"

"What did you just call me?"

"An asshole, because that´s what you are. You think you can insult me and my boyfriend and leave like nothing happened?"

"You better shut your damn mouth..."

"Or what? You´re gonna beat me up right here in front of everyone? I wanna see you try." 

Armie takes a step forward, getting face to face with the guy, who stares at him with a mad look upon his face. Timothée sighs, pulls Armie back and cradles his face, a pleading look in his eyes.

"This is not worth it, Armie, just let it go."

"Tim, I can´t..."

"It doesn´t matter what he thinks, Armie. We came here to have fun, right? So let´s do that."

"Not only he´s a fag, he´s also a coward."

Armie turns back around, grabs the guy by his collar and pulls him close, his face turning red with rage. "You shut your goddamn mouth before I knock you out, you understand me?"

"What´s going on here?" Armie looks over his shoulder at the sound of Jake´s voice, seeing as his friend stands there with Zac, Mark and Timothée. 

"This guy was bothering us a little bit, but he is about to leave. Isn´t him?" Armie pushes the guy away, stares at him for a minute more and then turns around, letting out a sigh as his eyes wander to Timothée, who bites on his lip. "You okay?"

Timothée sighs, shakes his head while walking past Armie and rushes out of the club, taking on a deep breath as he finds fresh air. He walks over to the safety rail, leans against it and stares into the ocean, the sound of music shadowing the waves as they crash on the shore.

"Hey, what´s going on?"

Timothée looks to his side, staring at Armie with rather sad eyes. "What was that all about?"

"The guy was being an asshole, Tim, what did you want me to do?"

"Walk away from him."

"But..."

"But I already have to deal with my abusive father, I don´t want to worry about you beating people up in the middle of the club simply because they are not okay with us. This is gonna happen a lot, Armie, are you gonna try to beat up everyone who says something offensive? Are you gonna be exactly like them?"

"Did you just compare me to your father?"

"Armie..."

"Fuck," he mumbles, burying his face in his hands as Timothée sighs and steps closer, his warm hands sliding up and down his arms. "Timothée, I´m..."

"I´m not comparing you to my father, Armie. You´re nothing like him, but I´m not gonna lie to you and say it didn´t scare me a bit to see what you just did."

Armie sighs, closes his eyes for a brief second and then lands his hand on Timothée´s hips, pulling him closer as he leans their foreheads together. 

"I´m so sorry for scaring you. I got so mad hearing that guy say those things, I didn´t even think about it, I just wanted to shut him up and end up acting like a complete moron."

"I understand your point, I know it´s not easy to hear those things and pretend it doesn´t affect you, but we can´t solve this by acting exactly like they do."

"I´m not this kind of guy, okay? I don´t go around beating people up or getting angry for nothing, I just..." Armie sighs and cradles Timothée´s face. "I was excited for us to go out together, have fun and just enjoy ourselves, but in the end I end up fucking up with everything."

"That´s not true, Armie."

"I made you scared, Timmy."

"Okay, that is a big word and I shouldn't have said it in the first place. You made me apprehensive, I have no reason to be scared of you, because I know who you are and you are a good person."

"Still, I´m sorry."

"Just don´t let these guys get the best of you, that´s exactly what they want. We need to show those people we are better than their hate, that we are simply living our lives and trying to be happy."

Armie smiles wide, his thumb stroking Timothée´s cheeks. "You are incredible, you know?"

"No, I´m not. I´m sure at some point you´ll be the one calling me out on something I did wrong, so don´t beat yourself up for this."

"I have a hard time thinking you will do something disappointing, but alright."

"Just wait a couple more weeks, you might surprise yourself at how annoying I can be."

"Annoyingly cute and handsome, that´s it."

"That´s so lame, Armie."

"You can´t even be romantic without being called lame."

Timothée chuckles, wraps his arms around Armie´s waist and lets his head rest on his chest, smiling as he feels Armie stroking his back. 

"This won´t happen again, I promise you."

__**  
  
**

**************

__

"I just got home, actually."

"How lame are we to be calling each other minutes after we said goodbye?"

Armie chuckles, locking the door behind him and making his way over to the kitchen. "Again, some would call it romantic, but I guess that Mr. Skater is too cool for that kind of shit."

"Mr. Skater..." Timothée chuckles. "Does that mean I´m your Skater Boy or something?"

"That´s exactly who you are."

"Okay, I can deal with that....I think."

"You´re a tough boy, of course you can."

"You know what? I think Mr. Artist is starting to say a lot of bullshit, so maybe it´s better for him to go get some sleep."

"Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Of course. Don´t forget to check on Lois and then tell me how she´s feeling."

"I´m gonna go see if she´s awake, maybe she feels like talking now."

"But don´t pressure her, sometimes it takes us a while to feel ready to let everything out. I know it quite well."

"I´ll just be there for her, she can do things in her own time."

"Good night, Armie."

"Good night, babe."

Armie hangs up the phone and places it on his jean pockets as he heads down the hallway and knocks slightly on the door, opening just a little bit to look inside. Lois is lying on her bed, the television on, but her eyes stuck on the window. It takes her a while to even notice he is standing there, but when she finally looks at him, she smiles.

"Back home already?"

"Timmy has class tomorrow, besides things got a little weird at the club, so we kind of lost interest."

Lois arches an eyebrow as she sits down on the bed. "What happened?"

"Some dude got a problem with me and Tim, but everything was alright in the end."

"Did he hurt you?"

"No, he didn´t. You don´t have to worry." Armie sighs, sits down on the bed beside Lois and wraps an arm around her shoulders. "How you´re feeling?"

"I´m alright, Armie."

"Will you stop lying to me?"

She sighs, her blue eyes watering and she shrugs her shoulders. "I don´t know what´s happening with us, Armie. It was such a stupid fight and yet we said such horrible things to each other and..."

"Did he hurt you in some way?"

"No, he didn´t. Nothing like this ever happened with us before, you know? We always managed to talk and solve everything in the best way possible, but not this time."

"Hey, you´ll be okay. I´m sure in a couple of days you guys will be able to sit down and solve this whole thing."

Lois nods, leaning her head on Armie´s chest as he strokes her hair. "I hope you´re right."

Armie sighs, places a kiss on her hair and pulls on the covers, allowing Lois to cry as he stares down at her. It breaks his heart to see her like this.

 

 

_**[For anyone insterested in some references for Armie´s art, I´ve made a post about it, so check it out.](https://raquelsantos92.tumblr.com/post/185780962388/vhttps://raquelsantos92.tumblr.com/post/185780962388/venice-ink-goodies-for-a-while-now-i-ve-beenenice-ink-goodies-for-a-while-now-i-ve-been) ** _


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time passes and the boys get even closer.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 25**

 

Armie bites down hard on his lip, his head thrown back and his eyes closed while he grips onto the sheet with one hand, his other one tangled in between Timothée´s curls. He feels his body tremble and his toes tingling, the indescribable pleasure that slowly consumes him making it hard to think straight. He grips tighter onto Timothée´s hair, arches his back a little and groans, sweat dripping down his forehead as he finally cums.

His chest is heaving, his cheeks a bright red as he relaxes his body, a broad smile taking over his face. He  takes a couple of deep breaths, looks down as Timothée smiles at him while crawling over his body, leaving little kisses all over his chest. He chuckles, cradles his face and pulls him into a soft kiss, his thumb stroking his cheeks.

"You´re great at this, you know?"

"Practice makes it perfect."

"That´s what they say," Armie says with a wink.

Timothée smirks and rolls over to the bed, wrapping an arm around Armie´s body while also resting his head on his shoulder. His finger trace his chest, drawing little imaginary patterns as he feels Armie´s fingers stroking his hair. He closes his eyes for a moment, snuggles against Armie´s neck and breaths him in, smiling as he feels Armie shiver. 

He frowns as he hears a door slam, then loud shouting fills the entire house. He looks over his shoulder, then turns back to Armie, whose expression has quickly changed into a worried one.

"What is going on?"

"Lois and Steve."

"I thought everything was okay between them."

"It seemed like it was, but the past few days they have started fighting again. I don´t really understand what is going on between them, but I highly doubt there´s any chance of them actually making this work."

"I´m so sorry for Lois, she seemed like she really loved him."

"You have no idea of how heartbreaking it is to see her moping around the house, crying because of this guy. I only ever saw her like this once in life and it was when her and Jake broke up."

"I know it´s not easy for you, especially because you´re used to seeing her as a tough woman and all, but she also needs to go through this grieving process, even if things are not really over between them yet. And I know the feeling of not being able to do anything about it is even worse, but there are moments where all people need is to be alone and deal with their problems by themselves."

"You know that well, huh?" Timothée looks up and Armie shoots him a look. "I´m not complaining. It is hard as fuck to see you sad sometimes and not be able to do anything about it, but I also understand that you need to deal with things your own way and on your own time."

"And with Lois it will be the same."

Armie sighs, nods his head and leans in to kiss Timothée softly on the lips. He smiles through the kiss, his fingers knotted on Timothée´s curls while he slides his hand down to his ass, squeezing it quickly.

"Umm, you texted me saying you had two things to tell me."

"Sorry, but the minute I walked through your front door I got a little carried away."

"I love when you get carried away, you know?"

"I happen to love when you make me forget about everything else around me," Timothée says with a broad smile, his legs tangling with Armie´s. 

"So, are you gonna tell me or what?"

"School is almost over, I just have two more weeks of class and the skatepark is almost nearly done. I thought a lot about what to do with my time, since I definitely don´t want to sit on my ass the entire time or stay home much, because..."

"Tim?"

"Yeah?"

"You´re rambling."

"Sorry," he chuckles, shaking his head. "Anyway, I applied for a job at the supermarket a couple blocks away from here. It´s for a small job, not many hours of work and definitely not much money, but it´s a start and I will be able to save some money for me and my mother."

"Tim, that´s great. When will you have an answer?"

"In about a week."

"I think that´s incredible and it will do you good, but if it doesn´t work, I´m sure there are many stores in the pier that would hire."

"Are you just trying to make sure we´re working basically side by side?"

Armie shrugs, a grin upon his face. "After almost a month together, it shouldn´t be a surprise to you that I would do anything to have you close to me every single second."

"That´s cute, actually."

"I know."

"Cocky, always so damn cocky."

"What was the second thing?"

"Zac and I are gonna participate in the Los Angeles Skate Competition."

"Are you fucking serious?" Armie asks with wide eyes as Timothée nods slowly. "Tim, that´s fantastic, I actually wonder why you haven´t done this before."

"I thought about you when I signed up, to be honest. The night we broke into that private skatepark, you told me I should be competing and to be honest, I´ve never stopped thinking about that."

"I´m sure someone else must have said that to you before I did."

"Yeah, there were people who said it, but it didn´t mean anything coming from them." Timothée sighs, his hand cradling Armie´s face. "Your confidence in me makes me feel better about myself."

"I´m happy with that, but I would be even happier if you could see for yourself how amazing you are."

"I´m working on that."

Armie nods, kissing him once more before he hugs him tight, burying his face in between his curls.

  


***************

 

 **//now_playing//** _Just Like A Pill - P!nk_

 

Timothée stirs the eggs on the pan, his head bobbing to the song that plays low on the kitchen. He looks over to the side, his eyes scanning Armie´s semi naked body up and down, a little grin on his face. He winks as Armie turns to look at him, an eyebrow arched and a smirk upon his face. He chuckles when Armie bumps his hips on his, blows him a kiss and then turns his attention back to the eggs, turning off the stove seconds later.

They move around the kitchen in perfect synchrony, like a couple who has been together for decades. The truth is, the whole month they have been together has been full of new experiences and the understanding that they are their best self when together. Timothée finds pleasure watching Armie draw and graffiti, while Armie couldn´t look more in love than when he is watching Timothée skate. Their problems seem to have been pushed to the side, life showing both of them that they can indeed have a life that´s more than just living.

They are about to sit down when they hear the door open, which causes them both to look back, serious look on their faces as Lois drags herself through the hallway and over to the living room, where she leans against the couch, her big blue eyes down to the floor.

"Hey, good morning."

"Maybe it´s a good morning for the happy couple, but I don´t think I can say the same for myself."

Armie and Timothée exchange a look, while Lois sighs and shakes her head, her hands running down her hair.

"Sorry, I shouldn´t have said that. I think I´m not exactly a good company today."

Armie shrugs and walks over to his cousin, his arm instantly wrapping around her shoulders. "What happened, Lois?"

"Steven and I broke up last night." She looks over at Armie, shrugging. "You must be pretty happy, huh?"

"What are you talking about?"

"How many times have you asked me why the hell was I dating him, huh? How many times you told me he was boring and arrogant? You must be thrilled right now."

Timothée looks at Armie with an apologetic look on his face and shakes his head. He knows Armie is the kind of guy everyone takes as a tough one, but he has noticed that he is very easily affected by the things people do and say to him.

"Lois..."

She sighs, buries her face in her hands and lets a few tears fall down her cheeks. "I´m sorry, I´m really really sorry, I know you´d never be happy for something like this."

"It´s okay, you´re just...you´re hurt and angry, that´s understandable."

"Don´t... I´m being a little bitch and neither one of you should have to put up with this."

"Why don´t we sit down for breakfast, huh? I promise you Timmy and I will be as quiet as humanly possible, it will be like you´re eating all by yourself."

"Okay."

"Good," he takes her hand in his and leads her to the counter, where she sits beside Timothée. "We have eggs, bacon and garlic bread, a courtesy of Timmy´s mom."

"Really? Oh, she´s lovely."

"Everytime she cooks something now she wants me to save a bit for Armie."

"And we´ve only talked on the phone so far, imagine how much she will love me when she actually sees me."

Timothée shoots him a look and Armie shrugs. He rolls his eyes, turns back to Lois and smiles softly at her, his hand resting on top of hers. "I know it´s none of my business, but why exactly did you break up?"

"I don´t even know at this point. I mean, we were arguing a lot, but on the last couple of weeks it seemed like things had gotten better and I thought we were gonna make it through it. Clearly I was only making a fool of myself, because when the arguments came back, it was even worse than before and being with him was exhausting, but still, I didn´t think it would go down this bad."

"But there must have been a moment where this whole thing started, right?"

"I got jealous of this girl in his class, he claimed I had no right to do that since I played on my ex boyfriend´s birthday and he didn´t utter a word. Then accusations started flying back and..."

Timothée is still hearing every word Lois is saying, but he can´t help but avert his eyes to Armie. The knowledge that it was Jake´s birthday party that sparked this whole issue clearly getting the best of him. He was the one who came up with the idea, the one who insisted on Lois playing, so Timothée knew that in some ways Armie would find he had some sort of guilt in this whole thing.

"...but it doesn´t really matter right now." She sighs, finishes her coffee in one go and then gets up. "Sorry guys, but I think I´ll be best alone for the day."

"Just shout if you need anything," Armie says as she nods and waves at him, heading back to her bedroom. He turns to look at Timothée, sighs and shakes his head, sadness clear in his eyes.

"Don´t."

"What?"

"Don´t blame yourself for any of this, okay?"

"I wasn´t..."

"I know you, Armie."

"I never liked the guy, but I never wanted her to feel like this."

"We can´t control this kind of things, Armie. People break up everyday, it´s life."

Armie nods, a small smile creeping on the corner of his lips as Timothée takes his hand in his and brings it to his lips, placing a soft kiss on his palm.

  


**************

 

"...and at the same time I feel like she´s way out of my league."

Jake´s voice seems distant, the sound of children playing in the sand and the ocean crashing on the shore idem. Armie is silent for most of the half hour they have been sitting there, his back against a tree, his eyes locked on the ocean and a piece of hamburger growing cold on his hands. There´s nothing in particular that worries him, nor any type of annoyance towards whatever his friends are chatting about, he simply feels a bit disconnected from the world.

His mother called him once again, her voice as usual sounds weird and the laughs she shares with him don´t seem very honest. He doesn´t know what it is yet, but Armie knows there´s something weird going on and she´s afraid to tell him. Lois´ sadness might also be helping, it has been years since he last saw her acting this way and he can´t help but wish he could do something to help her, but as Timothée said himself, he needs to allow her to grieve in her own way.

"Armie?! Armie, are you even listening to us?"

He snaps out of it when he feels Jake´s hand slam against his chest, which makes him turn to the side immediately. "What the fuck, man?"

"Are you even listening to us?"

"Stopped doing so a couple minutes ago, to be honest."

"Is Jake that boring?" Mark asks as Armie chuckles and Jake shoots him a look. "What? You´ve been doing most of the talking."

"Funny, very funny."

"I hurt his ego."

"Shut up, Mark." He turns back to Armie, cockying an eyebrow. "Are you going with us to the party or not?"

"Which party, Jake?"

"I met this girl called Melissa, she´s from UCLA, her and her roommate are throwing a party tonight and we are all invited. I think I might have a chance of scoring with her, so I am definitely going and I was wondering if you two are going too."

"I don´t know, man, I´m not really in the mood for party today. I think I´m gonna chill at home and help Tim with his school work. He´s about to graduate, he´s filled with exams and all that crap."

Mark chuckles. "That´s what happens when you get laid constantly, you forget about parties and feel happy to help with school work."

Armie rolls his eyes as Jake laughs, nodding his head. "Who said I´m getting laid constantly?"

"Aren´t you?"

"Not really. Timothée and I haven´t had sex yet."

"What?"

"Why so surprised?"

"Because it´s you."

"I´m not addicted or anything, Jake."

"No, but you don´t usually wait this long to do it either."

"Look, it´s not like we haven´t done anything, because we have done a lot. But things started quite suddenly for us, this is our first real relationship and before this, neither one of us had actually gone out with guys. We wanted to make sure things happened at their own time, we didn´t want to rush anything, we just wanted to enjoy ourselves the best way possible."

Jake looks at Mark, then back at Armie with a smirk plastered on his face. "Never thought I would actually say that, but you´re in love, bro."

"Oh, shut up."

"Are you really gonna try to deny it?"

Armie stares at them for a minute, then sighs and shakes his head. "There´s no need for that. I am in love with him, I think about him all the time, I want to be with him and protect him... I´m one hundred percent in love and I also never thought I would say that."

"Did you talk to your parents already?"

"You mean if I told my mother, the woman who basically grew up in a church with a very conservative father, that I am dating another guy? No, I haven´t told her nor Viktor or my dad."

"They might surprise you, you never know."

"I can see she´s trying her best to understand my decisions in life, but I don´t know how well she would take me being with a guy."

"You want my opinion?" Mark asks, which causes both Jake and Armie to look at him a bit unsure. "Based on what you have told us, your mother has learned with her mistakes, she knows she needs to listen to you more often and try to understand your feelings and decisions. If you are honest with her, tell her what you feel for Timothée, how happy you´ve been living here in Venice, working at the store and just doing what you love, she will eventually push back all the possible prejudices she had. But if you don´t actually talk to her, that will never happen."

"That´s...actually pretty great advice."

"No one changes out of the blue, Armie, and sometimes they need help to see things clearer. Do that for your mother, for your whole family."

Armie smiles, nodding his head. "Thanks, Mark."

  


*****************

  


The Sun shines bright upon the streets of Venice as Timothée skates around, his talented feet swiveling from side to side, doing trick and zigzagging as fast as he could possibly do. Right beside him is Zac, a broad and relaxed smile as the wind blows on his face. School ended only a couple of minutes ago, but they are already miles away from those streets, breaking through new neighborhoods and parks. 

Timothée smiles as they go down a small hill, the thrill of being on top of his skate and doing what he is actually really good at, it's still as big as it was when he was only eight and got on top of a skate for the first time. This is still the most pleasuring thing he does in life, even if being tangled in Armie while they lie in bed comes pretty close. He gestures towards a small park with some benches and a playground and watches as Zac nods, following him straight away.

They throw themselves under a large tree, the shadow softening the heat of the day. Zac quickly reaches for his water bottle and takes a couple of sips from it before tossing over to Timothée, who gladly takes it in his hands. They remain silent for a brief moment, just staring into space and relaxing their bodies. Biting on his lip, Timothée looks to his side, his eyes fully scanning Zac, whose leg is bouncing up and down. Timothée knows him well enough to know there's something going on with him and that ain't nothing new.

"Will you tell me what's going on with you?"

"Huh?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Zac. I know there's something happening with you for a couple of weeks now."

"Yeah well, I know there's something going on with you for a couple of years now, but you won't tell me either."

Timothée nods, leaning his head back on the tree. "Fair enough, I guess."

Zac sighs, his brown eyes turning to Timothée. "You know my parents and I have always been in sync with everything, we get along very well and never really had any problems."

"Yeah, did something happen?"

“Berkley happened, Tim."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't wanna go to Berkley and I sure as hell don't want a degree in Administration. I never really knew very well what I wanted to do in life and I still have some doubts, but I know Administration is not something for me."

"Did you tell them that?"

"No, I didn't. I think my mom kind of suspects of it, but since I never said anything, she didn't either. But my dad? He always talked about how proud he would be to see me take his place at the company and honestly, I would love that, but I don't think I want that right now or anytime soon."

"I think you should talk to them, Zac. Like you said, they have always been cool and did their best to understand you."

"I'm afraid to disappoint them."

"So you rather waste their money on an expensive college, which you don't even wanna be in than tell them the truth?" Zac sighs, shaking his head as Timothée shrugs. "You have the opportunity to go to college, you should use it well. Talk to them, tell them you're not sure you're ready for any of that right now, that maybe you should take some time off and truly figure out what you want. I think that way it will be better for everyone."

"I guess you're right. I'm just...what if they think I'm a failure?"

"They love you, they would never do that, Zac."

"Yeah, but look at Armie and all the trouble he went through with his parents."

"He really did go through a lot, but because his parents love him, they understood that he was better on his own. Your parents will also understand what college you go to must be your decision."

"Thanks, bro." Zac smiles while patting on Timothée´s leg. He waits a second or two before speaking, trying his best to come up with the best words. "Are you really not going to college?"

"With what money?"

"You could go to a public university or community college, Tim."

"That still means a lot of money that has to be applied in books and everything, I simply don't have that kind of money."

"Your parents never saved for your college?"

"My dad spends most of what we get on...," he sighs, his eyes wandering down to the floor as he feels Zac's stare. "Never mind, we simply don't have that kind of money."

"What does your father spend money with, Tim?"

Timothée shakes his head, then turns to look at Zac with a small smile. "Just let it go, okay?"

"Why are you so scared of telling me the truth? What do you think I'm gonna do?"

"It's not about how you would react, it's about me finding strength to actually talk about this and admit that I have been living a lie all along."

"Living a lie? For fuck's sake, Tim, just tell me."

Timothée sighs, his eyes stuck on Zac's. His heart is already beating impossibly faster and he feels a lump on his throat, but it almost feels like a betrayal to maintain the lie after Zac was honest about his own struggle.

"My dad is an alcoholic."

"What?!" Zac sits up straight, his eyes wide with confusion and surprise. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am."

"Has he tried to get some help?"

"He doesn't want no help, Zac. He doesn't care how that affects him or us."

"That's not true, Tim, he's your father and..."

Timothée pushes himself away from the tree and lifts up his shirt, showing the bruise on his back. "Do you see this bruise? He threw a clock at me once and end up cutting me. Remember that bruise you saw on my cheek a couple of weeks ago? He slapped me after pinning me against the wall and nearly choking me..."

"W-what..." Zac looks down and shakes his head, tears quickly filling his eyes. "Tim, why you kept this from me all this time?"

"Shame."

"Why would you be ashamed of something that is not your fault?"

"Believe me, I've tried to figure that one out already, but I don't have an answer."

"Armie knows about this, right?"

Timothée nods. "The day that I disappeared..."

"When you told me you were at your aunt's house," Zac concludes as Timothée nods.

"Exactly. He found me that night, I was a mess, bruises all over my body and a pain that I thought would never end. He sat down with me and we talked, then he took me to his place where I stayed until I felt better."

"What about your mom?"

"Probably gets it worse than I do. But she's scared of doing anything because she knows him enough to know he would get violent. He has threatened my life so she won't say anything, that's why she still endures all of this mess."

"And why do you?"

"Because she's my mother and I love her."

"Tim, we have to do something about this. You can't continue to live in that house, you and your mom are in danger. Please let me talk to my parents, I'm sure they can find a way to help."

"Zac, I know for you and Armie might be hard to understand, you guys never experienced the things I did, but I need you to let me handle this on my own."

"Timothée..."

"I'll ask for help whenever I find it necessary, but please let me and my mom find a way to leave him behind without any of us getting out hurt."

"Call the police, Tim."

"Zac, you know what happens when you call the police and all they see is a distressed woman and a white man, who claims he hasn't done anything?"

Zac sighs. His family might have some money, he might live in a good neighborhood, but he's still a black guy in California, so he knows exactly what Timothée is talking about.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't notice before or that I might have done something to make you believe you should hide this from me, I..."

"Zac, I was hiding his from everyone, for a while even from myself. Please, don't apologize for any of this."

"I am here for you, okay? For anything you need, you can always count on me."

"I know that."

"And I might not know how, but I will help you out of this situation."

"You and Armie are gonna team up to be my knights in shining armour."

"Don't make jokes about this, Tim."

"I have to, Zac. It's the only way I have to remain sane."

Zac shakes his head and squeezes Timothée's arm. "I hate that you have to go through this, Tim. You don't deserve any pain in life."

Timothée shrugs, leans his head back on the tree. He looks around the park, watching as some kids gather along the playground and sighs, a huge weight coming off of his shoulders now. Zac knows, he finally knows and just like Armie, he took his time to listen and not judge. Maybe life is better than he expected after all.

 

**************

  


Timothée opens the door, pokes his head inside the bedroom and takes a quick look around the place. Everything´s quiet, the lights are out and his mom is already lying in bed, although it´s not even eight thirty. He watches as his mom moves around on the bed, her eyes locking on his as a little smile comes to her lips.

"Hey, sorry if I woke you up."

"You didn´t," Eleanor says as she sits up, leaning her back against the bedpost. "I was just tired, so I decided to lie down a little bit."

"Are you alright?" 

"Of course I am."

Timothée sighs, closes the door behind him and walks over to the bed, taking a seat on the edge as his mother reaches out to take his hand in hers. He looks at her with care, his love for her bigger than anything in the world, but it kills him to see her this way.

She´s only thirty three, but the bags under her eyes, her skin and her hair make her look a lot older than she really is. Ever since she was sixteen she has been going through a lot, all he wants is to make sure she finds a way out of this hell and gets a chance to live the life the truly deserves.

"How are you, sweetie? Any news from the supermarket?"

"They won't answer until at least Friday, but I´m pretty confident about it."

"I´m so happy to see you this way, Timmy. Ever since Armie walked into your life you´ve been so relaxed and the smile on your face is everything I could ask for. He´s good for you."

Timothée blushes a little, nods his head and then moves closer to his mother. He wraps his arms around her, his head leaned against her shoulder as she sighs, stroking his hair.

"We´ll get out of here, mom. I am gonna get that job, I´m gonna save some money and we will make it out of here safe."

Eleanor closes her eyes for a second, kisses the top of Timothée´s head and pushes some of his hair back. "I´m sorry for putting you through this, Timmy, but I promise you I will find a way to stop this and ensure your safety no matter what."

Timothée leans back, his eyes locked on his mother and an eyebrow cocked. "Mom, what are you..."

“Don't worry, I'm not gonna do anything stupid, but know that I am always thinking of you and how to make sure you are safe.” Timothée simply nods, still a bit confused, but hugs his mother once more and kisses her cheek. “Now go watch a movie, talk to your boyfriend or even better, study for your finals. I'm gonna go get some sleep, okay?”

Timothée nods once more and gets up, blowing her a kiss as he leaves the bedroom. He looks over his shoulder at the closed door, slightly confused by his mother´s words, but chooses not to overthink anything. He sighs, shakes his head and looks down as he feels his phone vibrating in his pocket.

 

 **< armie>** _cant believe i actually spent the whole day w/out seeing u_

_i cant take it anymore_

 

 **< timmy>** _jesus_

_stop being so damn dramatic_

_i know u cant live w/out me but daaaaamn_

_soooo clingy_

 

 **< armie>** _clingy?_

_fine....i wont bother u anymore_

 

Timothée chuckles, throwing himself on the bed. He kicks off his shoes, fixes the pillows under his head and reaches for the phone once more, a grin upon his face as he thinks of what to reply.

 

 **< timmy>** _nooooo_

_how can i live w/out u????_

 

 **< armie>** _thats what i like to hear_

_;)_

 

He shakes his head and closes his eyes for a second, a smile on his lips once the memories of waking up beside Armie fill his head once more.

 

 **< armie>** _how was ur day?_

_ps: i actually do miss u_

 

 **< timmy>** _clingy…_

_i told zac_

 

 **< armie> ** _r u serious?_

 

 **< timmy>** _yeah_

_it felt good to let it out_

_and he was so supportive_

 

 **< armie>** _u already knew he would be_

_he is a gr8 friend_

_he would never let u down_

 

 **< timmy>** _u r right_

_ps: i actually do miss u 2_

_was just thinking about u_

_how nice it is to wake up by ur side_

 

 **< armie>** _my bed is really empty_

_u can stop by if u want_

_i know i would love it_

 

 **< timmy>** _that sounds gr8_

_but i am dead ass tired_

 

 **< armie>** _fine_

_but i will keep sending messages until i fall asleep_

 

Timothée's cheeks turn a bright red, his eyes glistening with joy. Even distant, Armie always know how to bring a smile to his face.

 

 **< timmy>** ~~_i love u_~~

_i will be here until the last one_

  


**************

 

Timothée nearly drags himself down the hallways, the tiredness of the last few days of school, paired with the fact he stayed up late,taking him over. He can see through the corner of his eyes as some people look at him up and down, apparently still bothered or shocked by the fact he is gay, which he can't really understand. Is not like his sexuality is affecting their lives, so he doesn't really know why it's so hard for them to just mind their own business.

He shakes his head, pushing those thoughts away and opens his locker, quickly stuffing every single book he's got inside. He only has two exams tomorrow and these are subjects he is pretty good at, so there won't be no need for studying. To be honest, all he wants is a day of relaxation...and maybe some fine moments with Armie.

He hears his name being called, looks over his shoulder and smiles at Zac, who runs down the stairs and towards him. He slams the locker shut, swings the backpack over his shoulder and joins his friend as they walk down the hallway.

"I was worried about you, man."

"Why?"

"I didn't see you in Literature class, thought something happened."

"Nah, I'm alright. Armie and I spent hours texting each other yesterday night and I end up getting late this morning."

"Oh young love."

Timothée chuckles while rolling his eyes. "On a serious note, I don't want you worrying about me all the time now, that's not why I told you the truth."

"I can try, but I think it will be easier said than done."

"Trying is enough for me." Zac nods and Timothée smiles, nudging him. "What you gonna do today?"

"I plan on talking to my parents about Berkley. What about you?"

"I want to do something fun and relaxing, actually. I might stop by the record store to see Armie, maybe he wants to do something."

"Speaking on the devil," Zac says with a smirk as they step out of the school building.

Timothée looks at him with a frown, then follows his gaze, a smile immediately coming to his lips as he sees Armie on the other side of the street. He is leaned against Lois' Jeep, arms crossed, sunglasses, jeans and a thin white shirt. Timothée can see some chicks staring at him, some of them whispering to each other and he can't help but smirk. All those girls fanning over Armie and he's there to see him.

"Go, I'll talk to you later."

Timothée nods. "I wanna know everything about the conversation." 

"I'll do just that, now go talk to your boyfriend before one of these girls throw themselves at him."

Timothée laughs as Zac shoots him a look and grabs his skate, walking towards a group of guys from his class. He smiles over at Armie and slowly makes his way over, cocking his head to the side as he reaches him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Is this how you say hello to your boyfriend, who you haven´t seen in over twenty four hours?"

"Oh poor you," mocks Timothée as he grabs onto Armie´s shirt and pulls him close to him, placing a quick kiss on his lips. "Better now?"

"Much, much better."

"Seriously now, what are you doing here? Not that I don´t like the surprise, because I really do."

"Lois is still feeling quite bad and as much as I tried to help, all she wants is to be left alone. So I grabbed her car for the day and thought we could spend the day out having some fun."

Timothée furrows his eyebrows. "And what exactly do you have in mind?"

"You, me, this Jeep and wherever it can take us."

"Wherever it can takes us? That actually sounds quite amazing."

"Are you serious?" Timothée nods and Armie smiles wide, bringing him in for another kiss. "C´mon then, I don´t want to waste any time."

Timothée nods and runs over to the other side of the car, hopping on as quick as he can. He watches as Armie turns on the car and then reaches for the radio, turning it on. He places his feet up on the dash, his finger tapping on the door as he bounces his head up and down, a grin upon his face as he sees Armie stealing quick looks at him.

  
**//now_playing//** _Add It Up - Violent Femmes_


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their day out ends with a surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I´ll be going on vacation later this week and thought you´d like two chapters to get you through the days of nothing. Enjoy :)

 

**Venice Ink**

**Part 26**

 

__

**//now_playing//** _Carry On My Wayward Son - Kansas_

 

Armie sings along to the music, his thumb strumming on the steering wheel as he drives down the road, his eyes glancing at Timothée from time to time. He can't help but smile wide, the look of joy on Timothée's face is contagious, the way his eyes seem to glisten as he pays close attention to every single thing that passes them by, how his cheeks flush as the wind hits him. If he could ask for anything in the world, Armie would ask for Timothée to always be this happy. He deserves it more than anyone.

He looks around the place, spots a record store he used to go when he was younger and smiles, turning to the side so he can park the car. He smirks as Timothée looks at him a bit confused and simply shrugs, his head gesturing towards the store. As Timothée nods, he hops off of the car and waits for him, reaching for his hand immediately. Holding his hand, wrapping his arm around his body, those little gestures have become so common to Armie, he doesn't even think before doing it.

"What's our first stop?"

"This record store."

"You work on a record store, and yet all you want to do on your free day is go to a record store? You're weird."

"This was my favorite record store. Jake and I used to come here almost every single day, sometimes we would buy new CDs, but most of the time we would sit down on those large armchairs they had and just listen to albums one after the other."

"Is this what this little trip is all about? You showing me places you used to come when you lived here?" 

"Maybe," Armie says with a shrug.

"I actually like that idea," Timothée winks and leans in to kiss him quickly. "So, does that mean your house is nearby? 

"Yes, just a couple blocks away from here." Timothée smirks and Armie scoffs, shaking his head. "Don't even think about it, Timmy."

"Oh c'mon, you said yourself you were gonna try to talk to your mother and rebuild your relationship."

"Yes and we had dinner two weeks ago."

"At a restaurant, Armie. Something very impersonal, a place you couldn't really dig into the issues of the family."

Armie sighs. "I'm not sure I want to."

"Armie..."

"Hey, I promised you a fun day and talking about my family issues doesn't really seem like fun. So how about we change the subject, get into the record store and treat ourselves with some music?"

Timothée stares at him for a moment, a frown upon his face as Armie waits for an answer. He sighs, nods his head and lets Armie lead him inside the store, his eyes going wide as he realizes how big the place actually is.

"Now, that's a fancy record store."

Armie chuckles and points out a couple of posters on the walls, explains to Timothée some of the things that have changed over the years and where was his favorite spot. He smiles as Timothée wanders around, attentive eyes checking every CD, every vintage vinyl and poster that comes his way. He leans back on a rack of CDs and watches him silently, until he feels a hand on his shoulder and turns around immediately.

"Armie? Armie Hammer? I can´t believe it´s really you."

"Luke? What the fuck are you doing here?"

"I´m working here for the past two years, dude." They exchange a brief hug, Luke patting Armie´s back as he smiles. "Damn it, I haven´t seen you in ages."

"I haven´t been here much ever since I left, to be honest."

"You got your way out and took full advantage of it, huh?" Armie shrugs and Luke chuckles. "But I´m glad you did it, I know how much you wanted to get out of here and just find your way. How´s the graffiti life over in Venice?"

"It´s going quite good, Jake and I try to paint as much as we can."

"I saw Jake a couple of weeks ago, asked about you and he said you were the happiest he had ever seen you. I can see he was telling me the truth."

Armie smirks, glancing at Timothée, who has his eyes locked on them. "I am feeling quite happy, yes. Life in Venice is pretty much everything I always asked for, you know? I´m just being myself and doing things my way."

"And I am sure there´s some chicks involved in this happiness?"

"Not really," he says with a shrug. "I´m dating for nearly a month now."

"And that´s something I never thought I would hear. Who´s the lucky girl?"

"Yeah, about that..." Armie goes silent for a hot second, before he cocks his head to the side. "Is not really a girl."

Luke arches an eyebrow and follows Armie´s gaze, only to find Timothée looking at them with an awkward smile on his face. He waves at him, chuckles as Timothée shyly does the same and then turns back to Armie.

"I take it back, that´s what I never thought I would hear." Armie laughs nervously, not really sure of how to react, but Luke steps closer, squeezing his shoulder. "I´m glad you found someone, Armie. You were always the best one of us, you deserve happiness."

"Thanks, man."

Luke shrugs, his eyes wandering over Armie´s shoulder as he hears the little bell ring. "I have clients to attend now, but please, make yourself at home and call if you need anything."

"Will do it." Armie pats his back and watches as he walks towards the two girls by the door before he makes his way over to Timothée. 

"I have a feeling the next time I look at the word awkward in the dictionary, I will be having flashbacks of this moment."

"You don´t even own a dictionary, Tim." 

Timothée rolls his eyes at the little grin on Armie´s face, but soon enough becomes distracted by something behind Armie. He walks past him towards a small rack, takes an Ipod on his hand and stares at it, his eyes filled with curiosity.

Armie walks towards him, a hand resting on Timothée´s back as he watches him with amusement. He is serious, completely concentrated on the little equipment on his hand and Armie finds it the cutest thing in the world.

"Everyone seems to be in love with this thing, you know? I heard you can fit more than two thousand songs in this one, besides it´s so much easier to carry this around then a Discman."

"Buy one then."

"Are you for real?" Armie shrugs and Timothée shakes his head. "Armie, I don´t have money to buy something like this."

"Is not even that expensive, Tim."

"Not, not really, but for someone who doesn´t have anything in his pocket, it kind of is."

"I´ll buy one for you, then."

"What? Of course not."

"Why not? Can´t I buy something for my own boyfriend?"

"You wanna buy me a gift? Wait for my birthday, but even then, please buy something small and cheap."

"The only good thing about this conversation is the fact you plan on still being with me by the time your birthday comes." Timothée shoots him a look and Armie chuckles, placing the Ipod back on its rack before wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "Fine, it´s a deal."

"Good. Can we go now? I want to take a look around."

"Okay," Armie smiles down at him, leading him out of the record store. "Oh, but just so you know, I´m really bad at keeping promises."

"Oh for fuck´s sake, Armie..."

  
  


***************

  
  


Armie stares at Timothée through the lens of his little camera, a broad smile plastered on his face as he watches Timothée´s bewildered eyes wander through the many walls that surround them, all of them covered in the most colorful graffiti. Armie notices a childlike expression on Timothée´s face, the face of someone who hasn´t had the opportunity to visit many places and can find even the most remotely common thing to be interesting. 

He snaps the photo as Timothée turns to the side, his curls falling down his eyes. Their eyes meet and Armie winks, watching as Timothée shakes his head and rolls his eyes, turning to yet another old factory that now serves as a beautiful mural. He walks closer, snaps a couple more photos and chuckles as Timothée covers his face with his hand. 

"Can you stop for a second? This is embarrassing, Armie."

"Me taking pictures of my boyfriend is embarrassing?"

"A little bit, yes."

"How dare you say something like this?"

Timothée shoots him a look, rolls his eyes and then turns around, putting on his cap as the sun hits his face. He chuckles as Armie runs over to him, wraps an arm around his waist and pulls him closer to his body, his lips placing a sweet kiss on his cheek.

"Okay, you don´t want any more photos, I will stop."

"Thank you."

"Story time, then?"

Timothée frowns, his eyes wandering to Armie for a moment before he nods.

"Do you know it´s technically illegal to graffiti in the streets of Los Angeles?" He chuckles as Timothée looks at him with disbelief and nods his head, putting on a serious expression. "I´m serious, Tim. If you get caught you can either lose your license or get a fine that can go over to a thousand dollars, but that´s exactly why this place exists, because here everything is allowed."

"The smug look on your face...you get off on being right, don´t you?"

"I get off with a couple of things, but being right is definitely not one of them. You on the other hand..."

"Stop it," he says while laughing, pushing Armie back. "Is your story over?"

"Not really. You see, that wall over there was where I did my first graffiti."

"Are you serious?"

"My first real piece, yes. I had done little things before, but nothing as big as this."

"How did you started? You never told me."

"Jake´s uncle is a graffiti artist too. He traveled the whole world painting murals and learning more about the story of each country´s street art. He once took Jake and I to graffiti with him, so we could see how it was, it turned out that we absolutely loved every single second of it and to my mother´s despair, in a few days I was madly in love and could only talk about graffiti."

"I can almost see a younger Armie, cheeks flushed and hyped as fuck, talking none stop about graffiti."

"That´s pretty much it. Although as great as it felt to have finally found something I loved and was good at, that also caused the whole issue with my family to start."

"Armie stop," Timothée takes hold of his shoulders, a sweet smile on his face. "Maybe things didn´t go very easy with your parents, but you should never feel bad for finding what you´re good at and that is being a street artist. You have your art on dozens of walls in Venice, you´ve been paid to paint some pretty cool murals and just three days ago you actually got a deal to paint something huge. You are great at what you do and I am sure if your mother took some time to see it, she would be insanely proud of you."

"I can only hope so." Armie tries to smile, but it´s pretty clear the topic of his family affects him way more than he would wish. "Anyway, how about we forget about all of this and I take you to eat?"

"I´m actually starving, so yeah, I´ll take that."

"Good, I know the perfect place to take you. You´ll be in love with the food and won´t ever stop thanking me for taking you there."

Timothée laughs, shaking his head. "You´re unbelievable."

"In a good way, I hope."

"In a perfect way."

"Good, now c´mon because I´m also starving and it will take us a couple of minutes to get there."

Timothée nods, his arm wrapped around Armie´s waist as they make their way back to the car. He looks up at Armie, a smile on his face as he notices the glow in his face as his eyes wander around the streets. His talent is like something Timothée has never seen before, his approach to his art is so passionate and true, but all he wishes is that at some point, Armie would understand every single aspect of his art is beautiful and important. Maybe then he wouldn´t let his paintings rot in the back of his garage.

"Hey, Armie."

"Yes?"

"I´m proud of you."

  
  


**************

  
  


"Tell me, isn´t this the best burger you have ever eaten in your life?"

Timothée chuckles, his eyes wandering from the Hollywood sign that sits above them towards Armie, who sits down beside him on the hood of the car. He almost doesn´t want to admit it, because he knows Armie is cocky enough without these compliments, but he can´t help but nod his head enthusiastically. It´s not even five in the afternoon, but he can already guarantee that this is one of the best days of his entire life.

As he stares at Armie, Timothée bites on his lip, his cheeks flushing and his eyes glowing. There´s not a thing about him that Timothée doesn´t absolutely love, but the fact Armie always seems to know exactly what he needs is definitely on the top five.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"I thought you would love to have me staring at you," he mocks as Armie rolls his eyes. "No, I was actually thinking about how great it feels to have someone who seems to know exactly what I need."

"What are you talking about?"

"I´m talking about you showing up earlier today, right after I told Zac how much I needed to relax and just have some fun."

"Did something happen?"

The worry that sudden takes over Armie´s face is almost too much for Timothée to bear. He shakes his head, his foot bumping on Armie´s as he moves closer, letting his hand rest on top of his.

"Nothing happened, nothing serious anyway. I am just tired of all the school work I got going on right now, there´s always an exam and everyone seems to be going crazy with college applications and all that shit. I thought the last two weeks of school would be boring and I would be dragging myself through the corridors, but as it turns out is crazier than the whole year put together."

"That´s high school for you." Armie says as Timothée nods. "I´m still quite bummed you´re not going to college, you know? You´re way too intelligent to miss out on something like this."

"I don´t have money, Armie, besides I´m not really a believer that a degree defines a person. I can still be a successful person without a degree, I just need to work hard and fight for my place in the world."

Armie smirks, nodding his head. "I like the sound of this, a lot more optimistic than you usually are."

"I think I´m spending way too much time with you."

"I wish we had more time together," Timothée smiles and Armie takes one last bite of his burger before pushing the boxes and wrappers down, giving them more room. "Oh, now that you´re one week away from graduation, I was wondering if you have thought of anywhere you would like to go?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh c´mon, please tell me you didn´t forget about our deal."

"I have no idea what you´re talking about, Armie." 

"What?" Armie leans his back on the windshield, shaking his head as he groans loudly. He buries his face in his hand, but looks back at Timothée as he hears him laughing. "You think this is funny?"

"The look of despair on your face when you thought I forgot about our road trip? Yes, it was hilarious, actually."

"You´re so fucking mean."

"No, I´m not."

"Yes, you are." Timothée rolls his eyes and Armie sits back up, nudging him. "So, did you think of a place you would like to go?"

"Armie, I barely ever left Venice, anywhere we go is a win. Although there is a small problem we might need to deal with."

"What problem?"

"School ends in a week, that´s true, but what if I get the job at the supermarket? I won´t be able to simply leave everything behind when I barely got myself my first job."

"I hadn´t thought about this," Armie says with a sigh.

"Also, you just got hired to paint a mural at the huge coffee shop, shouldn´t you be starting in the next few days?"

"They are not that big, Timmy."

"It might not be a multinational company, but it´s a big state company. Anyway, that´s not really the problem."

Armie shrugs, a pout on his face as he looks from Timothée to the Hollywood sign. "We could leave it to December, a little road trip to celebrate your birthday, although I am not really a fan of road trips during the winter."

Timothée chuckles and takes a hold of Armie´s shirt, pulling him closer to him and locking their lips together. He smiles as Armie deepens the kiss, his fingers knotting on his curls and pulling on the ever so lightly.

"How about we enjoy the moment and leave all these decisions for later?"

Armie nods, his lips barely leaving Timothée´s. "That sounds pretty good to me."

  
  


*************

  
  


**//now_playing//** _ Truly Madly Deeply - Savage Garden _

 

The windows are fogged, their bodies tangled in the back seat and their low moans mixing with the music. Armie barely fits on the back of the car, his body contorting from side to side, but his lips never leave Timothée´s. He pulls on his lip, nibbles his tongue playfully and presses himself down closer to him, his hand sliding inside his shirt and feeling the shivers that sudden taken over his warm body.

With his arms tightly wrapped around Armie´s neck, Timothée allows his foot to teasingly run up his legs, or at least try. He moans softly when Armie grinds their bodies together and grips on his waist, a fire burning inside of him with every little movement they make.

Armie traces down Timothée´s jaw, laying kisses all over his skin. He sucks on his neck, leaving back a hickey that sure will haunt Timothée for days to come. He smirks at the little grunts and whimpers that leave Timothée, leans his forehead against his and stares down at his face. His cheeks are flushed, his lips swollen and shiny, his eyes darker with pleasure and lust, a sight Armie is more than used to by now, but that still manages to make his entire body light up. 

He hungrily dives in to kiss Timothée once more, his lips devouring him as if they haven´t seen each other in months, maybe even years. He moves around, snuggles himself as best as possible in between Timothée´s legs, runs his fingers inside his hair and pulls slightly on the curls, earning a symphony like moan that makes him smile like an idiot.

Timothée gasps for air as Armie once more moves to his neck, his chest heaving and his entire body burning. He slides a hand down Armie´s back, grabs a handful of his ass on his hand and squeezes tight, chuckling as Armie grunts. He feels his hand slides down in between them, reaching for his shorts and shakes his head, bringing Armie´s face closer to his.

"Maybe, it´s time for us to stop."

"What? Why?"

"Just imagine Lois´ face if she finds out we were fooling around on her car," Timothée says with a smirk as Armie shrugs.

"She doesn´t have to find out and I won´t tell her if you don´t."

"We´re in the middle of the street, Armie."

"That´s not true, we´re in a pretty hidden place, actually." Timothée shoots him a look and Armie chuckles, his nose brushing against his pale and smooth skin. "We could still make out for a little bit longer though, right?"

Timothée stares at him for a second, frowns as if he is in deep thought and then nods, laughing as Armie immediately starts leaving kisses all over his face. "You´re insatiable, aren´t you?"

"Look who´s talking," he says in between kisses, cradling Timothée´s face in his. He winks down at him, but cocks an eyebrow as he sees a serious look take over Timothée for a second. "What´s wrong?"

"There´s nothing wrong."

"I can see in your eyes, Tim."

Timothée bites down on his lips, the tip of his fingers running up and down Armie´s nape. "I don´t know why, but sometimes I let this weird thoughts take me over for a moment or two, but it seriously doesn´t matter anything."

"Then tell me what it is."

"Do you... I mean...," he sighs, but relaxes as he sees Armie smiling down at him. "Do you ever get frustrated that we haven´t had sex yet?"

Armie frowns. "Why would I be frustrated?"

"Do you have any idea of how many guys I´ve heard talking shit about their girlfriends because they don´t want to have sex with them right from the start?"

"Well, let´s start with you telling the guys at your school that they are assholes. Then you could tell me if I ever did anything that made you feel pressured to do anything that you didn´t want to, because if that´s the case, I am terribly..."

"Armie, you didn´t do anything. Everything that happened between us so far, happened because we both wanted to."

"Okay, are you sure?"

"Yes, I´m sure."

"Okay," Armie nods. "And answering your questions, no I don´t get frustrated, because I understand that things shouldn´t happen until we´re both ready for it. Besides, it´s not like we haven´t done anything, because we do a lot."

Timothée chuckles, nodding his head as Armie smiles down at him. "Okay, sorry for ruining the mood with such an awkward and random conversation."

"Don´t say sorry, I like that we can talk about these things with no problem. I´ve heard that´s what makes a good relationship, you know?"

"You heard from who?"

"Lois, Paul and some online forums I might have visited when we first started dating."

"Are you fucking serious?" 

Timothée tries to control his laughter, but finds it nearly impossible to do so. He stares up at Armie, biting down hard on his lips to try and stop himself, but the look of embarrassment on Armie´s face is just too much.

"Stop mocking me."

"I´m sorry, that wasn´t my intention."

"Yeah, right."

"It seriously wasn´t, but c´mon..."

"Yeah, I know, it´s weird."

"Why were you on online forums, Armie?"

"Because everything was so new to me and I had a lot of questions about a lot of things and yet I didn´t know anyone that could help me in this particular subject."

"You are the cutest thing ever, you know that, right?"

"I highly doubt."

"You are. You are this giant guy, who I am sure intimidates most guys that come near you, but that´s just the surface, because deep inside you´re like a teddy bear."

"A teddy bear? Are you fucking serious?"

"I really like teddy bears."

"Okay then, I´m a teddy bear." He smiles as Timothée chuckles and then leans down for a kiss. He pulls away nearly immediately though, his face contorting in pain as Timothée arches an eyebrow. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck..."

"What the hell? Armie what´s going on?"

"Cramps, I got cramps in my legs."

Timothée chuckles, rolls his eyes and moves slowly on the backseat, trying his best to sit up and bring Armie with him. "See what happens when you´re six foot five and want to make out on a car?"

"Oh, shut up."

"C´mon, you gotta stretch your leg as much as you can."

"I can´t stretch my legs out here, Tim, that´s exactly the problem."

"You can if you do it towards the front of the car, Armie." Timothée says with a chuckle, helping Armie stretch out his leg. He bites on his lip, his eyes wandering through Armie´s face as he leans his head back and takes a couple of deep breaths. "Maybe this is a warning that we should go home once you´re feeling better."

"What?" Armie opens his eyes, shaking his head. "Of course not, it´s still early."

"I have school tomorrow morning, babe."

"And you´ll be there in time. But we still can take a little walk around Hollywood Boulevard and maybe even find a nice place where we could have dinner."

"I don´t know."

"Oh c´mon, Tim. I promise you´ll be home before midnight."

"Okay, we´ll have dinner here."

"That´s what I like to hear."

Timothée rolls his eyes, his hands massaging Armie´s thighs. "How´s your leg?"

"It´s better now, but I can still feel a bit of pain."

"Do you think we can walk? It would certainly do you some good."

"Yes, I can. The bad part is over already."

"Okay, then let´s find ourselves a place for dinner, shall we?"

Armie nods, lets out a breath as he puts his leg down and reaches for his phone and keys. He watches as Timothée jumps out of the car and quickly does the same, the fresh air helping him forget the pain that still shoots through his leg. 

He takes Timothée´s hand in his, walks down the alley they secured themselves in and back to the crowded and highly illuminated streets of Los Angeles. He wraps his arm around his shoulder, pointing out some of the places he used to visit when he lived there and watches with a smile as Timothée pays close attention to everything.

The look of pure happiness he has seen on Timothée´s face the whole day is everything Armie could have asked for. He looks in peace, like a true seventeen year old, someone who is not constantly scared of what might happen on the next minute, a teenager who doesn´t have to take such a burden on his shoulders. 

"What?"

"Huh?"

"You´re staring at me, is actually kind of creepy."

"Creepy? How dare you?"

"Only being honest here, Armie."

"I am just happy that you´re happy." Timothée smiles and Armie shrugs. "Seeing you like this is the biggest present I could ever have. And I know one day you will only have good things to think of and..."

"Stop talking," Timothée whispers before pulling him to a kiss, his hand holding tight onto Armie´s waist.

"Is this how you´ll usually shut me up? Because if so, I´m gonna start talking even more than I already do."

Timothée rolls his eyes and Armie chuckles, cradling his face and bringing him in for yet another passionate kiss. He smiles as he feels Timothée´s arms wrapping around his waist, his warm body pressed against his. Armie has never felt so good in life and he doubts anything could actually break this spell he has found himself in.

"Armie?" 

The voice is low and distant, but Armie can recognize it immediately. He pulls away from Timothée, his eyes wandering from his lips to his eyes, before he turns to the side and gulps.

"Mom?"


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things don´t go as expected....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I´m back after some lovely days out and although angst filled, I hope you´ll enjoy this chapter....after all, you guys didn´t think meeting Armie´s family would be easy, right?

**Venice Ink**

**Part 27**

  
  


Mom. 

That word lingers in the air as silence takes them over and Timothée can feel his heart pound inside his chest. This was not how things were supposed to happen,  Armie should have the chance to talk to his parents, prepare them for the news and for a possible meeting. Bumping into his mother in the middle of a crowded Los Angeles street was never in the plan. 

He gulps, his green eyes wandering from Armie to the tall woman that stands just a couple of feet away from them. Her blonde hair falls down her shoulder, her blue eyes are just as big as Armie's, and despite the current situation her body still seems relaxed and the expression on her face is more of a surprise than disgust or anger. That's always a good sign, at least Timothée thinks so.

He watches silently as Julia takes a couple of steps closer to them, her lips twitching in attempt to a smile as she pulls Armie closer to her and engulfs him in a tight hug. Timothée bites on his lip, his foot nervously tapping the ground as he looks down and tries to remain calm. She seems to be okay, or at least she's not freaking out, but he can't help but worry.

"Mom, what are you doing here?"

"Your aunt dragged me out of the house for the day. I just said goodbye to her and was about to grab a cab home when I turned around and saw you."

Armie nods, his body rigid and a scared look on his eyes. His mother has repeatedly said she changed in the last couple of months, she has tried to reach out and listen to him, but this is a completely different thing.

"Mom, this is Timothée." Armie's voice is slightly broken and his cheeks are flushed, a million emotions and thoughts clouding his mind. He reaches for Timothée, brings him closer and lets his rather cold and shaky hand rest on his lower back. "He's my boyfriend."

Timothée takes on a deep breath, puts on the best smile he can master and stands his hand out for Julia. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Hammer."

There's a moment of pure and undeniable tension when Julia stands still, her eyes locked on Timothée. Armie goes to say something, but he stops himself when his mother reaches out for Timothée's hand and shakes it.

"You can call me Julia," she says as Timothée nods. "It's really nice to meet you, Timothée."

Armie sighs in relief, a sense of calmness taking him over. When their eyes meet once again, Armie can tell she has many questions wondering inside of her, questions he knows he will have to answer soon enough.

"I know what you're thinking, I should have told you about Timothée and I when we met for lunch last week, but if I am being quite honest I was a bit scared of your reaction."

Julia sighs, a hurtful expression on her eyes. "I'm not gonna stand here and I pretend I don't understand where this fear comes from, because I do very well. And believe me, it hurts a lot to know that instead of making you feel free and comfortable, you felt scared. I'm sorry, son, I really am."

"Mom, please..."

Julia shrugs, her eyes wandering from Armie to Timothée as she wipes away her tears. "Oh God, I'm so sorry, I'm making a scene right in the middle of the street."

"It's okay, mom, don't worry."

"Sweetie," Julia nearly whispers as she reaches out for Armie's hand. "I'm not gonna lie to you, I admit it will take me awhile to get completely used to this. But I am your mother and no one else in the world can tell when you're happy better than me, and what I see in your face is a happiness I have never seen before, so count on me for whatever you need."

Armie smiles, nodding his head as he lets out a sigh. "Thanks, mom."

Julia pulls Armie for yet another hug, kissing his head as he buries his face in her neck. Her eyes wander to Timothée, a little smile on her face as Timothée does the same. 

"Okay, we're in the middle of the street, I think we should stop."

Armie chuckles, nodding his head. "Maybe we could go somewhere to grab some food? We can explain everything to you, I'm sure you have some questions."

"I have a better idea, why don't we head back home and have dinner there?"

Armie shakes his head, taking a step back. "I don't think this is a good idea, mom."

"Armie, you might not live there anymore, but that's still your home. Besides, I'm sure Viktor and your father would love to see you...and Timothée."

Armie bites on his lip, his eyes wandering to Timothée, who gives him a reassuring smile. "What you think?"

"I'm okay with whatever you decide, Armie."

"Are you sure you're ready for this?"

Timothée shrugs. "I have no idea, but I'm willing to try."

Armie nods, then turns back to his mother. "Fine, we're going with you."

  
  


*************

  
  


Armie parks the car in front of the large iron gates that secluded the house, a place he hasn't step inside in at least an entire year. He sighs, hands tightly holding onto the steering wheel and blue eyes wandering through the whole place. He can spot the window to his old bedroom and it doesn't take long for his head to be filled with memories of his childhood.

On the backseat, Timothée sits down straight to look at the house and can't help but gasp. The garden is colorful and meticulously taken care of, the house is absolutely stunning, like it was taken out of a Hollywood film and big enough for at least three families to live comfortably. Since day one Timothée has been aware of Armie's wealth, but this goes beyond anything he had ever expected.

Julia looks at both boys with a reassuring smile on her face and squeezes Armie's hand for a moment, before she opens the door and hops out of the car, aware that maybe they both need a moment to get their heads in the right place. She knows it's never easy for Armie to come back, now he does so by bringing someone with him for the very first time and unlike anyone could expect, it's not one of the many girls he has been with throughout the years, which she can only imagine only enhances his nervousness.

Armie closes his eyes for a second, takes on a deep breath and turns around to face Timothée, who's sitting quietly on the backseat, his green eyes still stuck on the house in front of them.

"Welcome to my old life."

Timothée smiles sweetly at him. "How does it feel to get back here?"

"Honestly? It's fucking weird, because even though I spent sixteen years of my life here, I feel extremely detached from this house, I feel like I don't belong here. Is that a horrible thing to say?"

Timothée shakes his head, cradling Armie's face. "You're allowed to feel whatever you want, Armie."

Armie nods, leans in to place a quick kiss on Timothée's lips and then gestures towards the house. "Are you ready?"

"Let's do this."

"I'm praying for the best, but please forgive me if anything goes bad."

Timothée simply nods, trying his best to keep a calm face even though his stomach is starting to do twists and turns right now. Julia has been nothing but nice, but this is only the beginning of the night and God knows how Viktor and Michael will deal with this.

He hops off of the car, joins Armie and Julia by the front gate and sighs in relief as he feels Armie's hand slide down his arm until their fingers are intertwined. Julia opens the gate and leads them inside the house, Timothée's eyes wandering through every little corner. By the time they are by the front door, his heart is once again pounding inside his chest and Armie seems to notice his apprehension, because he leans closer and kisses him softly, whispering some encouraging words against his lips.

They make it inside the house and are instantly greeted by a woman in her mid fifties, hair pushed back in a bun and her maid uniform perfectly ironed. Timothée watches as she talks to Julia for a moment, before her eyes wander to Armie and a wide smile takes over her face. Armie rushes to her, hugging her as tight as he possibly can before placing a kiss on her cheeks.

"Tim, this is Adelaide, she has been our maid since I was a baby and always provided the best chocolate cake I could possibly ask for."

"Hi, I'm Timothée."

"Nice to meet you, sweetie, it's always a pleasure to have Armie's friends here."

Armie goes to correct her, but Timothée holds onto his arm, shaking his head. There's no need for all this formality with the poor woman, specially when he knows they will barely be seeing one another.

"Where's Viktor?"

"He's at the t.v. room, Mrs. Hammer, hasn't left for most of the day."

"Of course, that's all he does lately."

"I thought you said he was doing fine, happy and excited with his new girlfriend."

"He was, until they broke up over the weekend, the last three days have been all about him moping around."

"Jesus, everyone is breaking up."

Timothée steals a quick glance at Armie and sighs, the simple thought of something like this happening between the two of them making him feel so scared. Armie is the one thing bringing him some peace and positivity, he can't lose him.

He shakes his head and follows Armie and Julia down the hallway, his eyes still bewildered by all the beauty of the house. He stops by another large room and leans against the threshold as Julia walks in and catches Viktor's attention. Now that he is face to face with him, Timothée can actually see a bit more of similarities between Armie and Viktor, but they are still minimal. 

"Vik, look who came to have dinner with us tonight."

Viktor looks to the side to see Armie and Timothée standing there, his expression passive and almost unable to read.

"Hey, man. I've missed you."

"I would never have guessed that, considering you never stop by."

"Viktor, please, we have visitors." Julia says as he sighs, his eyes wandering to Timothée. "That's Timothée, your brother´s boyfriend."

Viktor finally gets up, eyeing Timothée up and down before turning to Armie. "You´re unbelievable, Armie."

"What are you talking about?"

"What am I talking about? I´m talking about you and your need to always be the center of attention. You just can´t help yourself, can you?"

"Vik, that´s not what I am doing."

"Really? You spend a year without stopping by and suddenly you show up and brings a boyfriend with you?" Viktor scoffs, shaking his head. "None of the girls you fuck agree to do this?"

"Look, I don´t know what has got into you right now, but you can´t talk to me...."

"Oh, I can. You gave me that right the moment you left this house without even looking back." He rolls his eyes, grabs his phone and then turns back to his mother. "I´ll be upstairs in my room."

"Viktor, please, you can´t..."

"Call me once he´s gone."

Armie frowns, trying to find something to say, but Viktor barely gives him any time, he simply storms out of the room, bumping shoulders with him on his way out. Armie sighs and turns around, watching as his brother runs up the stairs, a clearly angry look on his face. He goes to move, run after Viktor and talk to him, try to make amends and fix their relationship, but he is stopped by Julia, who smiles sympathetically at him.

"Leave him alone, Armie, it will be better like this."

"But mom..."

"Viktor is hurt, Armie. He misses you more than any of us and you know how hard it was for him to watch you leave."

"It was four years ago, mom. And everytime I think we´re getting closer to making amends, he snaps at me. I don´t know what else to do."

"Some people take longer than others to overcome their anger and sadness, Armie. I know he will come around, because his anger towards you only shows how much he actually loves you. Please, be patient with him like you´ve been with me."

Armie simply nods, trying to hold back the tears that are threatening to fall. 

"I´ll go talk to Adelaide, you can show Timothée around the house."

Armie stays silent, watching as his mom walks away, the sound of her heels the only noise in the entire house. He sighs, turns to look at Timothée and shrugs, a sad smile on his face.

"I´m sorry, I didn´t want any of this to happen."

"It´s okay, Armie."

"No, it´s not."

"I agree with your mom, you know? I think he loves you so much, he´s still hurt that you had to leave. But like I said before, he will eventually come around and understand you did what you had to do."

Armie nods. "I hope you´re right."

"I am."

"So, where should we start the tour?"

"Your old bedroom sounds like a good idea."

Armie chuckles, wrapping his arm around Timothée´s shoulder. "Okay, let´s go."

  
  


***************

  
  


"Oh my God, look at this little cutie."

Armie rolls his eyes, his arms crossed above his chest as he leans against the wall and watches as Timothée goes through basically every single photo his mother keeps on her special wall, a place where she hangs basically every single photo ever taken of him and Viktor. He can´t help but notice that some of the photos of her and his father are missing, which seems a bit odd, but since they are close to celebrating their anniversary, Armie thinks she might have ordered the photos to be changed.

"Okay, can we please move on from the photos? This is really embarrassing."

"No, it´s not. Look at this, you look so damn cute."

"His hair was amazing in this one, wasn´t it?" Timothée turns around, smiling over at Julia as she leans against the wall too. "This was just a few days before he came to me and said he was gonna paint his hair blue, which he did and two days later he had already regretted."

"I regretted because that was not the shade of blue I wanted."

"Right, it had nothing to do with the fact you didn´t think things through."

"The right shade would have looked great."

"Do you have pictures of him with the blue hair? Because I really need to see it."

"I do have them somewhere, it´s probably on Michael´s office, I´m gonna go..."

"Mrs.Julia, dinner is ready."

"Thank you, Adelaide, but we´re gonna a little bit more and see if Michael shows up." Adelaine nods and Julia smiles, turning back to Armie, who´s looking at her with a frown.

"Where is dad? He´s never this late."

"I told you, Armie, he´s been working a lot lately. The company had some problems last year and now he´s focused on making sure that won´t happen again."

"Is that all of it? You´re sure there´s nothing else going on?"

"There´s nothing else going on," she reassures him with a smile. "Now, let´s sit down a little bit, I wanna know more about Timothée."

Timothée sighs, shrugging his shoulders as he and Armie follow Julia back to the living room. "There´s not really much to know, Mrs. Hammer."

"Julia, call me Julia."

"Right."

"And I am sure a nice young man like you has a lot to tell. What does your mother do?"

"She manicures sometimes, but she hasn´t really had a job in almost a decade. She...she really wanted to focus on being the best housewife she could be."

Armie looks at Timothée from the corner of his eyes and lets his hand rest on his thigh. He knows how much he hates to lie about his life, but he also can´t go around telling everyone about the hell he goes through every single day.

"Actually, Timothée here is a master of the skate, mom."

"Oh really?"

"Yep and he will be competing here in about a month."

"Oh that sounds amazing, Timothée."

"Is definitely not as great as he makes it sound."

"Yes, it is, he just doesn´t know how to handle compliments."

"Yeah, I´m the complete opposite of him."

Julia lets out a soft chuckle, her eyes wandering from Armie to Timothée. "You two are really precious, I can see that you make each other a better person."

"I like to think so," Armie says as Timothée rolls his eyes.

"What about your father, Timothée?"

Timothée immediately freezes at the question, his mouth going dry and his hand tightly holding onto Armie´s. Is one thing to dodge the true about his mother and what he goes through inside that house, is another one to actually have to talk about his father. 

"Mom, maybe it´s time to stop with all the questions?"

"I barely made any questions, Armie, I don´t...," they hear the front door open and Julia stops immediately. She gets up, fixing her clothes and heads towards the door, leaving Armie and Timothée alone in the living room.

Armie turns to look at Timothée, pushes some of his curls back and smiles. "Hey, it´s alright."

"I just wish I didn´t have to dodge questions about them, you know? But what else can I do?"

"One day, you won´t have to dodge around questions and I promise you this day is coming soon."

"Don´t make promises you can´t keep."

"Seriously?"

"Armie, I want this hell to end more than anyone else, but I´m also realistic. I know one day my mom and I will get rid of him for good, but for now I´m happy that my life has already turned into a brighter and more optimistic path."

"Okay, I promised we would do things your way and that´s what we´re gonna do."

"Besides, right now my biggest fear is your father."

"What? My father is cool, we always got along well."

"Yeah, he always got along well with his straight son, we don´t know what happens when he meets me." 

Armie rolls his eyes, cradles Timothée´s face in his hands and pulls him closer to a kiss, which only ends once they hear footsteps and Armie´s name being called.

"Armie, I didn´t know you..."

Michael´s voice lingers in the air as Armie and Timothée stand up, their cheeks slightly flushed from the kiss. Armie smiles to his father, waiting for enthusiastic welcoming, but all he gets is a confused look.

"What is going on here?"

"Dad, this is Timothée." The seconds of silence that follow the introduction are enough for Armie to understand that with his father it won´t be as easy as it was with his mother. Michael has a look of anger in his eyes, his face is bright red and Armie can recognize that expression from when he got angry at him for scratching his car. "He´s my boyfriend."

  
  


***************

  
  


Timothée´s eyes wander around the dining room while he moves the fork around the plate, the awkwardness of the experience getting the best of him. For the past hour and a half, he had to endure cold stares and snarky remarks from Michael, Armie´s sad and disappointing looks, not to mention Julia´s failed attempts to make things more bearable.

After such an amazing day together, all Timothée wanted was a nice and fun dinner with Armie, so he could go home happy and recharged for the last few days of school. Instead, all he got was this dreadful dinner that was seriously taking away any hunger he could have in him. 

Timothée steals a quick look at Armie, sighing as he notices the sadness that has taken over his eyes. He seemed so excited after the meeting with his mother, he truly believed things would be easier with his father, but now he was crushed and disappointed. He rests his hand on Armie´s thigh, squeezes it softly and smiles at him when he turns to face him, trying his best to make sure he knows he has his support.

Adelaide shows up seconds later and with Julia´s nod, starts taking the dishes out of the table, while Michael pushes himself up without even uttering a word. Julia watches him head to the living room and sighs, her eyes turning to Armie and Timothée, trying her best to put on a smile.

"What you say we move to the living room for a coffee and some biscuits?"

"I think we should go, mom."

"Maybe it´s for the best, your father is tired and he needs some time to get used to the situation."

"Yeah, that´s great, mom. Everyone gets their time to digest it, while we have to get used to the side eyes and the sarcasm right away, that´s absolutely fantastic."

"I´m sorry, I really am."

"I know, sadly it seems like you are the only one." Armie pushes himself up and takes Timothée´s hand in his, leading him back to the living room.

"I actually need to go to the bathroom," Timothée practically whispers.

"You can go upstairs, second door on the left."

"Okay, I´ll be right back."

Timothée leans in to kiss Armie´s cheek and then rushes up the stairs, not oblivious to the murmur that begins the moment he is out of the room. He can hear Michael´s voice, but does his best to push it back and focus on what he has to do, he doesn´t wanna know what he has to say. 

He finds the bathroom, locks the door behind him and stares at himself in the mirror for a second before peeing. He can´t stop thinking how sad Armie looks throughout the whole dinner though, which brings a stinging pain to his chest. He wished at least Armie´s family was understanding of this, because he knows the moment his father finds out about them, hell is gonna break loose.

He washes his hand, splashes some water on his face and heads out of the bathroom, only to find Viktor standing in front of what he assumes to be his bedroom door. He bites on his lip, staring at him for a moment, before he turns to leave.

"I´m sorry, okay? I didn´t say those things to hurt your feelings or because I am mean."

"You were quite mean, though."

"And I apologize if I hurt you in any way, but you need to know who my brother really is."

"I know your brother, Viktor."

"How long do you know him for, Timothée?"

"Two months."

"Exactly, I´ve know him for my entire life and I know better than anyone who is the real Armie Hammer." Timothée frowns and Viktor sighs, pushing himself away from the wall. "He might seem like the charming and always laid back guy, but the truth is Armie loves the attention and will do everything for it. He used to ruin my father´s cars, then he moved on to crazy hair colors, when he got a bit older he decided it was time to go from girl to girl every two days, sometimes even bringing them here and making little pool parties, only to piss off my parents, of course."

Timothée remains silent, a serious look on his face as he listens to Viktor say those things, the tone of anger in his voice something he never expected to hear.

"But nothing compared to the big show he put on when he decided the good life he lived here wasn´t good enough for him. He made my parents life a living hell, Timothée, every single day pushing them further until they had no other choice other than to sign the papers and let him leave, after all he needed that to be himself, to be happy. That´s bullshit, because Armie was happy, he just got bored of the life he lived here and decided he needed something else."

"You know what, Viktor, I´m not gonna stay here and..."

"I´m trying to warn you, okay? You might think he is crazy over you, that he is the most caring man in the world, but the truth is you are the new conquest, Timothée, just like all the girls he had. He makes them fall for him, he gives them the world and then he gets bored and pushes them away, only to find someone else to fulfill that hole. Don´t think I enjoy saying this, Timothée, but in a few weeks, a month tops, he will get bored, he will break up with you and everything he said and promised, will be just a memory."

"You have no idea what you´re talking about."

"He does that with everyone, Timothée, even his own blood."

Timothée gulps and silently turns around, heading down the stairs as fast as he can, trying to push back all the things he has just heard. Viktor doesn´t know what he is talking about, he hasn´t been around Armie for years now and he´s angry, so he´s clearly trying to make everyone around him as angry as he is.

Halfway through the stairs he hears Michael´s voice once again and stops, leaning against the rail as he carefully listens and watches the scene downstairs. Armie´s face is red, his mother is desperately trying to keep everyone calm, but it´s clear they´re all past that point now.

"...because this is stupid and you need to end this right now."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you´re straight, Armand, that´s why."

"Are you fucking serious right now?"

"Watch your language, young man."

"My language? That's what's worrying you right now?" Armie scoffs, shaking his head. "I come here after a whole year, I sit down for a nice meal, because I want to make things work between us and this is how I'm treated? I´m happy, I´m with someone I care about and you don´t give a shit."

"Care about? C´mon, Armand, this boy is just another one of your little games."

"Michael, please..."

"What? Are you gonna tell me you´re okay with your son going around fucking another guy? Where are your religious morals, Julia? Your father would be ashamed."

Julia simply looks down, tears threatening to fall down her cheeks.

"You´re an asshole," Armie says while shaking his head.

"And you´re a spoiled little brat, always trying to find a way to make a scene."

"So that´s what you truly think of me, huh?"

"I know you, Armand and that's why I know this thing won´t last long. You´re adventurous, you like to try out new things and explore the world, but guess what, you also get bored very easily."

The words seem to affect Timothée more than he wanted, the similarity to what Viktor has just said to him striking way too close to home.

"You want everything, but it doesn´t take long for you give up everything and search for something new."

Armie shakes his head. "You don´t know me."

"I am your father, I do know you."

"You might have known me once, but you don´t know me anymore." 

As Armie turns around, Timothée tries to take a couple of steps back, but it's already too late, he has been seen. He sighs and bites on his lip, his eyes filling with tears as Armie looks down for a moment.

"We´re leaving."

He simply nods and rushes down the steps, his eyes wandering to Julia, who gives him an apologetic smile. Armie takes his hand, pulls him closer and quickly leads him out of the house and past the garden, not daring to look back until they are both inside the car.

"I´m sorry," Armie practically whispers.

"Just drive, please."

 

***************

  
  


**//now_playing//** _ Head Over Heels - Tears For Fears _

  
  


Sometimes silence can be louder than words, and sometimes silence can hurt more than a punch in the gut. Armie experienced both sentiments during the one hour drive from his parents house towards the streets of Venice Beach, his eyes constantly wandering to Timothée, who sits quietly on the passenger seat, his eyes focused on the road ahead.

The music that at the beginning served as a way for him to focus on something other than the coldness that came from Timothée, or the words of his father and brother, which still filled his head, now nothing but white noise.

He watches from the corner of his eye as Timothée moves, his hand reaching for his backpack, which lies on the backseat ever since he picked him up at school. Armie frowns, his lips pressed and his knuckles nearly white as he holds tightly onto the steering wheel.

"You can stop here," Timothée finally says.

"What?"

"I said you can stop here."

"But we´re only at your school, I can leave you home, Tim."

"I want you to stop here."

"I don´t have to get inside, Timothée, you don´t have to worry about this."

"Stop the car, Armie."

Armie parks the car only a block away from Timothée´s school and lets out a sigh, before he turns to face him. "Hey, I know this night wasn´t exactly what we expected or wanted, but can you..."

"I really don´t wanna talk about what happened tonight, especially right now."

"But I..."

"Good night, Armie."

"Timothée, you can´t..." Armie stops as he watches Timothée open the door and hop off of the car, swinging his backpack over his shoulders before he walks down the quiet and dark streets. He sighs, his until now sad face turning into an angry one as he punches the wheel, over and over again, letting out a groan of frustration.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It´s time to talk.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 28**

  
  


**//now_playing//** _ 99 Problems - Jay Z _

 

It's nearly one in the morning, the moonlight shining bright on the quiet and empty streets. Near the pier, Armie reaches for yet another can and shakes it before spraying black ink on the previously white wall. He has his headphones on, a bandanna covering his nose and his eyes are tired and rather lifeless, not exactly a surprise after the last few days of anxiety, fear and anger.

The dinner at his parents house was three days ago and ever since he dropped Timothée off in the middle of the street, he hasn´t actually seen or heard from him. Armie doesn´t blame him for being distant, it was quite a stressful night and the things he heard must have left him mad and confused. Still, he feels powerless whenever he sees yet another unanswered message.

He takes a step back, his eyes wandering through the art that now covers most of the wall. He smirks under the bandanna, tosses the can back inside his bag and zips it up, swinging it over his shoulder. Armie pulls the bandanna down to his neck and takes on a deep breath, looking around the streets to make sure he hasn´t been seen. 

He crosses the street, taking one last look at his art and then walks down the path that leads to the beach, taking off his sneakers as he reaches the sand. He closes his eyes for a brief moment as his toes touch the sand, steadies his breathing and tries to keep the bad thoughts away from his mind, although he knows it´s nearly impossible. 

Quietly, with the headphones still covering his ears, Armie walks towards the lifeguard stand, a little smile covering his face as he reminds of the last time he was there. It was nearly a week ago, him and Timothée were all alone in the warm night, their legs intertwined, their laughter echoing through the night and the smile on Timothée´s face was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. 

He sits down, his back against the wooden wall as he turns off the music and reaches for his phone in his backpack. There´s a couple of messages there and for a brief moment his heart accelerates with the possibility of Timothée answering him, but he soon realizes the messages comes from Jake and Mark. He frowns as he deletes them both, his eyes wandering to the small sign on the top of the screen that indicates a new voicemail. 

"Hey, sweetie," he hears his mom´s voice fill his ear. "I know you probably don´t want to hear my voice after everything that happened, but I wanted to know how you and Timothée are doing. I had no idea your father and your brother would act that way, I could never expect him to treat you in such a way, when he has always been the one to understand you better than anyone. I´m truly sorry for what happened and I am trying to get some sense into your father´s head, but you know him, he is quite stubborn. Please, let me know how you are doing. I´m sorry again."

Armie deletes the message, his eyes already turning red. He can hear the sadness in his mother´s voice, he can tell  she is being honest, but right now he simply doesn´t want to talk to anyone other than Timothée. He sighs, looks at the tiny little screen for a little longer and then finally finds the courage to type something out.

 

 **< armie>** _u have any idea of how much i miss u?_

_ please talk to me _

_ tell me what u r feeling _

_ please timmy _

_ please _

  
  


Armie waits a minute, two, three and then finally gives in, turning off the phone and throwing back inside his backpack. He lies down on the floor, his head resting on the backpack as he stares up at the sky.  A week ago he was there with Timothée, happy and in love, now he is all alone.

  
  


**************

  
  


**//now_playing//** _ Come As You Are - Nirvana _

 

Timothée has his hands stuck in his pockets, his head down and a serious look on his face as he marches inside the school building. His eyes wander around the hallways, but he doesn´t really pay much attention to anything going on around him. It´s been three days and all he wants to do is lie on his bed and scream his lungs out, scream until he can understand everything that happened, scream until he can push all the pain from inside of him.

The things he heard on Armie´s parents house hurt pretty deep, even if he knows they meant to attack Armie and not him specifically. But to hear both Viktor and Michael claim he was nothing but an adventure for Armie made him feel weird, made him question things he had already thought right in the beginning, but that he pushed back. 

Armie had been with some beautiful girls, he had met a lot of people and been to amazing places, Timothée wondered why he would settle down with someone like him. When he could have everything and anyone, why someone with such a heavy baggage to carry on?

He sighs, turns the music off and opens his locker, stuffing some of the things he won´t be needing inside. He looks at the small picture of him and Armie that lies there and takes it on his hand, smiling from the corner of his lips. He misses him more than anything in the world and he knows he has been texting him non stop, but he needs some time on his own, he needs to get his mind on the right track. Besides, if they talk now, Armie might figure out that Michael has hit him again and that´s something he really doesn´t want to deal with right now. 

He closes the locker and sighs, bracing himself for yet another exam.  As he turns around, he gets face to face with Mackenzie, who looks up at him with a small smile on her face and sweet eyes. He smiles back, although slightly confused on why she is staring at him like this.

"Hey, do you have a minute?"

Timothée simply nods and Mackenzie mirrors his action, her smile turning into a frown.

"Look, I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted with you." Timothée frowns and she chuckles. "I mean, I have always had a thing for you and when you said yes to going to Jake´s party with me, I thought that maybe things were finally happening between us, but then you kept avoiding me, running away from me every time we met and I got mad at you without even considering your feelings."

"Mackenzie, you don´t have to apologize for anything. I should have told you from the start that I wasn´t interested, that I was..."

"Yeah, you should, but I can understand why you didn´t. It got even worse when I found out about you and graffiti guy, I felt betrayed and then I realized that it wasn´t my place to feel hurt. You are who you are and you have no obligation to like me, just because I like you."

"I´m sorry."

"Don´t be, everything will be alright." She smiles as Timothée nods. "I saw you and your boyfriend the other day, you two are really cute together."

"Thanks."

"I hope you´re happy."

_ Right now I´m not _ , Timothée thinks as he nods his head and tries to put on a smile. "We are."

"I have to go now, but thank you for letting me talk."

"No problem."

Timothée watches as Mackenzie walks away and sighs before making his way to class, where Zac is already sitting on his usual seat. He sits down next to him, throws his backpack to the ground and fishes for his pen and pencil, placing them on top of the table.

"Hey, how things going?"

"The same," he whispers back at Zac, who shakes his head. "Zac, I´m not really in the mood for that now."

"Dude, I get that when your sad or frustrated you usually like to be alone, you like to internalize things and deal with them in your own way. I´m used to that by now and I know when to talk or not, but this is Armie we´re talking about, okay? He's your boyfriend and you love him, so talk to him and let him know what you´re feeling, because it just might be the same thing he is feeling. That´s his family that fucked up, can you imagine how guilty he must be? Answer his call, text him back, at least tell him you are alright and that you need a couple of days, but don´t ignore him. You might regret that later on."

Timothée remains silent, his eyes stuck on Zac, who winks at him and pats his back. He hears the teacher walk in and turns to the front, reaching for his phone in his pocket. 

As he looks down at it, he can see all the messages from Armie, which makes him smile a little, even if the content isn´t exactly the greatest. As he thinks of something he could reply back, he hears a tap on his desk and looks up, sighing as he sees the teacher with his hand out and a stern look on his face. 

Timothée groans, but hands the phone over to the teacher, who shoots him a look before walking towards the next line. He looks at Zac, who rolls his eyes and shrugs, turning back to the front of the class. Replying to Armie will have to wait a little bit more.

  
  


***************

  
  


Armie leans back on the chair, reaching for a cloth to clean his hands as he stares at the painting that is finally taking form. The colors are neutral, but the lines are strong and accentuate every little detail of Timothée´s face, specially his eyes and nose, details Armie absolutely loves about the boy. He smiles to himself and puts the cloth down, about to reach for a clean brush as he hears the door open and a voice fill in the air.

"Looking good," Jake says while leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and a little smile on his lips. "I´m sure he will love it."

"Thanks."

"Lois briefly told me what happened."

Armie nods, looking down at his ink stained hands. "I knew it wasn´t a good idea to go to that house, I knew something like this could happen, yet I decided to be the positive guy and give them a chance. It´s all my fault, really, I should have kept him as far away from them as possible."

"That´s not true, Armie, this is not your fault."

"No one knows them better than I do, Jake, yet I took him there."

"They are your parents, your family, of course you thought things would go better. Don´t beat yourself up for something you have no control over it, okay?"

Armie sighs, turning around on the stool and watches as Jake walks closer to him. "Viktor absolutely hates me, Jake. The things he said to me, the way he looked at me, it was horrible. And my dad? My dad, who always listened to me and tried to understand my decisions, he basically told me to end things with Timothée already, because he knows this is just me being adventurous and that I will eventually get bored of him."

"How´s Timothée dealing with all of this?"

"If I only knew," Armie says while Jake frowns. "He hasn´t talked to me in three days. He probably hates me and I don´t even blame him, you know? He already has his own shit to deal with, I shouldn´t be bringing even more drama to his life."

Jakes reaches for an empty stool and sits down in front of Armie, who keeps his head down while he plays with his finger. "I doubt Timothée hates you, Armie, because I can see in his eyes whenever he looks at you how much he loves and cares about you. Maybe hearing those things from your brother and your father affected him a lot more than he expected or wanted, doesn´t mean he hates you or that he believes in the things that were said by them. I´m sure he´s just a little overwhelmed by everything that happened, which is understandable."

"Okay, so what do I do?"

"Go after him, Armie. Knock on his door and talk to him face to face, tell him how much he means to you and that you want to be with him no matter what your family thinks. After all, that´s the truth, isn´t it?"

"I´m crazy about that guy, I can´t imagine my life going on without him."

"Tell him that, not me."

Armie chuckles, nodding his head. "Thanks, man."

"No need to thank me, we all need our friends to say a word of support and remind ourselves how stupid we can be sometimes."

"Wow, way to kick me when I´m down."

Jake chuckles, leaning closer to Armie, so he can lay a hand on his shoulder. "In all seriousness now, go talk to him as soon as you can, you two don´t deserve to go through all of this mess."

Armie smiles, a sigh escaping him as he nods. "I´ll talk to him after class is over, I can´t possibly lose him."

  
  


**************

  
  


Clouds fill the usual blue sky of Venice Beach, the cool breeze that hits from time to time indicating that it might actually rain until the end of the day. As he walks down the street, Armie allows his eyes to wander around the neighborhood with curiosity, since he has never even stepped around these blocks before. And if he is to be completely honest, Armie has got to admit he hardly ever stepped into a place that seemed so dark, dirty and....poor.

He sees some kids playing on the street, running one after the other and remembers the time he and Jake used to play hide and seek with a young Viktor, who couldn´t stop giggling. He smiles at the memory, but the events of the last couple days are still too fresh in his memory to allow him any prolonged happiness. Maybe once he actually solves everything with Timothée he might allow himself to stick to the good memories.

Armie sighs, reaches for the piece of paper in his back pocket and unfolds it, taking one last look at the address Zac reluctantly shared with him. It was a struggle to earn that address and he had to promise that he would make sure Timothée wouldn´t be mad at him, which Armie isn´t sure is a promise he can keep, but he had to do something. 

He squints his eyes, spots the house on the other side of the street and quickly makes his way over, his heart beating faster as he walks the small front yard. He stares at the door for a minute or two, then finally knocks on it a couple of times, immediately hearing the sound of footsteps approaching the door. And that´s when he freezes, he had not given this much thought and now he wonders what the hell he is gonna do if Timothée´s father opens the door. Will he be able to control his anger? Will he be able to look in that man´s face without...

He looks up and takes a step back as the door opens and a brunette stands in front of him. She has curly hair that falls down her shoulders, a small smile on her lips and her big green eyes seem tired, but still kind and welcoming.

"Hello, can I help you with anything?"

"Mrs. Chalamet?"

"Yes. What can I do for you?"

"Hi, I´m...."

"Armie? What the fuck are you doing here?"

Timothée´s voice echoes as he stands by the hallway, his eyes with a mix of confusion and fear. He wasn´t expecting Armie to show up at his door, let alone when his father left the house not even five minutes before. He bites on his lip, his hands are trembling and his heart is pounding on his chest, but damn it, it feels good to actually be face to face with Armie after all these days.

"Hey, I needed to talk to you."

"I texted you, I was going to your place." Armie shrugs and Timothée can´t help but let a little smile creep on the corner of his lips. He turns to Eleanor, whose eyes wander from him to Armie, a smile on her face. "Mom, you wanted to meet him, here he is."

"It´s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mrs. Chalamet."

Eleanor nods, wrapping her arms around Armie, who chuckles. "It´s my pleasure to finally be face to face with you, sweetie. I´ve been telling Timothée to bring you here for over a month, but he always has an excuse in hand."

"I have been dealing with the same problem, Mrs. Chalamet."

"Oh, stop you two."

Armie chuckles, his eyes locked on Timothée, a relief taking over him as he realizes that he is fine. Nothing in the world makes him feel better than to see him like this, eyes glowing, a smile on his face and close to him.

"I´m sure you two have things to talk about, so I´ll be in the kitchen if you guys need me." She turns to look at Timothée, who nods as he takes Armie´s hands in his. "And behave yourselves, the walls are thin in this house."

"Mom!"

"What? Is true?"

"We´re just gonna talk."

"At your age, I already had you, Tim, so I know a thing or two about young love."

"Okay, let´s go right now." Timothée says while pulling on Armie´s hand, dragging him down the hallway and over to his bedroom, where he makes sure to lock the door behind them. He sighs, shaking his head and then turns to face Armie, who still has a smirk plastered on his face. "You shouldn´t be here, Armie."

"Why not? Your mom seemed pretty happy to see me."

"And she truly is, because all she has done is talk about you lately. But you know damn well why I don´t want you here, Armie."

"I do know and I understand your point of view, Tim, but I simply couldn´t stay home wondering what the hell is going through your head after everything that happened at my parent´s house. You mean the world to me, Tim, I need you to understand that I am not who my father said I was."

"I like to think I know you pretty well, Armie, but the truth is we know each other for only two months and although we´ve shared a lot about ourselves, some things always get left behind."

"Timothée, I would never do anything to hurt you, you have to believe me."

"Are you sure there's not even a little part of what they said that could be true? Are you sure you´re not gonna get bored of me once this is not new anymore? Because..."

"Tim," Armie shakes his head while he walks towards Timothée and cradles his face in his hands. "You are the most important thing in my life right now, you are the one thing that gives me inspiration and makes me smile no matter what. After I met you, I´ve been able to finish my paintings, I´ve been feeling a lot more inspired than I ever was before. You mean so much to me, Tim, you have no idea how hard it is for me to accept the fact that my family has made you doubt my feelings for you."

"I´m in love with you, Armie. And the simple thought of you getting bored of me, or even worse, realizing the mistake you did by being with someone like me, it just..."

"Someone like you? Timothée, you´re the best person I have ever met in my life. You´re kind and intelligent, you´re talented and you´re so fucking strong, you don´t even realize it."

"I´m not."

"Yes, you are." Armie nearly whispers while his thumb wipes away the tears that are falling down Timothée´s cheeks. "I will never get bored of you, Tim, because everytime I look at you, I find something new to love and cherish. Ever since I saw you for the first time, I knew that something inside of me had changed and if the past month has taught me anything, is that I can´t live without you by my side."

"Please, don´t say this if you don´t mean it."

"Timothée, I'm in love with you and I want you by my side. I don´t care about what my parents think, I don´t care about the ugly looks we get on the streets, all I care about is you and me being happy. Okay?"

Timothée nods, smiling through his tears. "Okay."

"Now, can we stop with the crying and all the sentiments, so I can appreciate the fact I am in your bedroom?"

"You´re unbelievable."

"Yes, I am." Armie says between laughter, his arms wrapping around Timothée´s waist as he leans their foreheads together. "I meant it, by the way."

"What?"

"I'm in love you."

  
  


***************

  
  
  


**//now_playing//** _ Never Tear Us Apart - INXS _

  
  


The curtains are open wide, the sun coming in through the small window and lightning the room while both boys sit down on the floor, their backs against Timothée´s bed. They have been sitting there for nearly two hours, listening to music, laughing and going through some of the old photo albums Eleanor made sure to hand to Armie. 

He chuckles while looking through some photos of a young Timothée, whose straight hair falls down his eyes while he smiles wide at the camera. He flips through a couple more pages, smiles as he sees some pictures from Timothée´s first steps, his first birthday and even his first bath. 

Timothée can´t help but smile, his eyes wandering through Armie´s face, his heart swelling with love and care. He has never felt such a strong connection to someone, he has never found anyone he could be as open as he can be with Armie. Neither his mom nor Zac, although always caring and helpful, ever made him feel this safe and he will always be thankful for Armie walking into his life. In the middle of the chaos of his life, he is like a beacon of light.

"When did you start getting curls on your hair?"

"I don´t know," Timothée says as he leans closer to Armie, his finger tracing the nape of his neck. "But I think it was sometime after my tenth birthday, at least it´s what looks like from these albuns."

"You were so damn cute."

"I was? Oh, that´s nice to know."

"You see, you used to be a cute kid, but now you´re a beautiful, sexy guy and I am damn lucky to have you as a boyfriend." 

Armie winks, licking his lips as grabs a fistful of Timothée´s shirt and pulls him impossibly closer, their lips connecting in a sweet and loving kiss. He smiles through the kiss, feeling Timothée´s hand cradle his face and his thumb stroking his cheek. Three days apart and kissing him feels just like the first time.

Timothée pulls away slowly, licking his lips as his eyes wander from Armie´s lips to his eyes, a wide smile appearing on his face. He leans their foreheads together, lets his thumb run through Armie´s shiny lips and then quickly pulls him back to another kiss, his heart racing as he feels a mix of excitement and fear for doing this at his home.

"You are a bad influence, Hammer."

"I haven´t done anything."

"Your existence is enough to mess up with my mind." 

"Well, in that case, right back at ya."

Timothée chuckles, opening his eyes to look at Armie. "I can´t get enough of you, seriously."

"Good thing I am not going anywhere."

"I mean it, Armie." He whispers while stroking Armie´s cheek. "It´s almost scary how much I need you in my life, and I know a lot of people would say this is a teenage thing, but I feel so much more alive when I´m with you."

"You don´t have to be scared of anything, Timmy."

"I never thought I would ever feel this way about anyone."

Armie moves his head to the side, kissing Timothée´s palm repeatedly. He looks at Timothée from the corner of his eyes, smiles as he seems the look on his face and places one last kiss on his palm before he sits up straight and holds onto Timothée´s waist.

"You know I feel the same and the past month with you has been more than anything I could have expected. But you know what I like the most about our relationship?"

"What?"

"We´re both experiencing this for the first time in our lives, we both have the same fears and insecurities, we´re both scared and overwhelmed by all these feelings growing inside of us. So I say that when we´re feeling too much, we turn to each other and we´ll understand."

"Ever thought of becoming a motivational speaker? I mean, your life as a street artist is going good, but maybe..."

"C´mon, I´m serious here."

Timothée chuckles, nodding his head as he moves even closer to Armie. "I know you are and I appreciate every single word you said to me right now, every single word you said since the moment you appeared at my front door."

"That´s what I like to hear, appreciation for me."

"Oh, cocky Armie is back."

"Cocky Armie is never gone."

Timothée laughs, wrapping his arms around Armie´s neck and burying his face in the crook of his neck. He breaths him in, a smile he simply can´t control on his lips as Armie tightens his grip on him and kisses his hair. He places a couple of kisses on Armie´s neck, then his jaw and his cheeks before he allows their lips to connect once more, this time a lot more intense than he previously allowed himself to do.

Armie pulls Timothée with him as he lies down on the ground and then rolls over so he is hovering on top of him, their legs tangled, their hands traveling down each other´s bodies. He smirks at the sound of Timothée´s soft moans, squeezes his hip and grinds their bodies together while pulling on Timothée´s bottom lip.

A knock startles them both and causes Timothée to look back at the door, biting on his lip as his cheeks flush. They remain quiet for a moment, but the knocking continues and Timothée groans, shaking his head.

"Yes?"

"I don´t mean to interrupt, but there´s some coffee and cookies, I thought you guys might want it."

"Cookies?" Timothée asks as Armie shrugs. "We´ll be there in a minute, mom."

"Okay, take your time."

Armie stares at the closed door for a minute, hearing as Eleanor´s footsteps become more distant. He then looks down at Timothée again, an eyebrow arched.

"You think she knows we´re not just talking?"

"Judging by what she said earlier? Yeah, of course she knows."

"Okay, it´s gonna be hard to look her in the eyes while we eat those cookies."

"Don´t look at her then, look at me."

"That I can do easily."

Timothée laughs and pulls Armie back down, hugging him tight as they lay there for a moment more, not really in the mood to let go of one another just yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The moment we´ve been waiting for a while is almost here, so hang on tight because are about to get good ;)


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Have you ever loved me like a father should love his son?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It´s the start of one of the most important days of Timothée´s life.

 

**Venice Ink**

**Part 29**

  
  


Crowds of people gather around on the skate park, which is nearly finished, now only waiting for Armie and his gang ́s intervention to bring some much needed color to the place. Happy and excited by the current events of his life, Timothée smiles wide as he flies past some people on his skate and dives down on the bowl, the thrill of doing the thing he is best at never really going away.

He does a couple of tricks, chuckling as a few kids stare at him in wonder and then moves to one of the rails, doing a quick Board Slide before he goes back to the pavement, zigzagging around. It feels good to finally be able to be in the skatepark without the fear of getting hurt because of all the holes, rust and puddles. It feels extra special to know he was responsible for this transformation, that it was his idea that brought so many people together to rebuild something great.

He bends his knees, slowly guides the skate around the entire place and smiles as he feels the wind blowing on his face, a few rebel curls escaping from the cap, which originally belonged to Armie, and falling down his eyes. He spots Zac on a far corner, eagerly chatting with a little brunette who is all smiles at him, which immediately makes him chuckle. Timothée has seen a lot of those moments to know most of them end with Zac and the girl going their separate ways.

As he turns to the side, he bites down on his lip, his eyes glowing as he spots Armie leaned against the wall on the opposite side, hands inside his pocket and a wide smirk plastered on his face. Timothée winks, does a quick turn and skates towards Armie, holding the skate on his hands as he finally gets close enough.

Armie doesn´t waste any time, he pulls on Timothée´s plaid shirt and immediately turns his cap to the back, allowing their lips to touch in a brief kiss. He opens his eyes to see Timothée licking his lips and his cheeks blushing a little, which makes Armie chuckle. They have been quite open with their relationship, but it´s easy to notice that sometimes Timothée still gets a bit shy.

"I missed you yesterday," Armie whispers as Timothée nods.

"I´ve missed you too, wish you could have been there to help me relax."

"I was thinking of you the whole time." Timothée smiles and Armie lets his hands slide down to his waist, keeping his body close to his. "So, what´s the verdict?"

"I did it, Armie. I graduate tomorrow with flying colors, along with everyone else."

"That´s amazing, Tim. I´m so fucking proud of you."

"I´m proud of myself too, you know? Even though there were moments I just wanted to give up on everything, I kept going and finally made it."

"You deserve this, Tim, you´re incredibly smart and you have a bright future ahead of you."

"Well, I don´t believe in me as much as you do, but I´m glad with what I got going on right now."

"Did you get an answer on the supermarket thing?"

Timothée sighs, shrugging his shoulders as Armie pouts, tightening his grip around his waist. He watches as he debates on what to say, only to have him cradle his face and place a quick peck on his lips.

"It´s okay if it didn´t work, Tim, you´ll find..." Armie trails off as he watches Timothée chuckle. "You got the job, didn´t you?"

"I got it, start on Monday morning."

"You little prick, you seriously would let me think you didn´t get the job?"

"I always wanted to do that with someone."

Armie rolls his eyes, but pulls Timothée for a tight hug, his hand rubbing his back as he places a kiss on the top of his head. As they pull away, Armie leans their foreheads together, smiles on their faces as they stare at one another.

"We should celebrate."

"The job or the graduation?"

"Why not both?" Armie shrugs. "I´m going to meet my mom in about an hour, but maybe we could meet at the lifeguard stand at seven?"

"Sure, I´ll bring some beer."

"That´s what I like to hear."

Timothée smiles, but quickly lets a more serious look take over his eyes. He remains quiet for a minute, fingers tracing Armie´s arm as he debates on the right words to approach the subject.

"Just say, Tim." 

"What?"

"I can almost see the engines turning, you know?"

He chuckles, shaking his head. 

"You are wondering how this conversation is gonna go, am I right?"

"I can´t help it."

"Look, I´m doing the exact same thing. She said she really wanted to talk to me, she wanted to explain a couple of things and she even said she wanted you to be there too, but I thought it would be better to do this just the two of us. I don´t want you involved in my family´s bullshit, you know."

"You´re somehow involved in mine, I think it´s only fair I´m in yours."

"Honestly? I wish none of us had to deal with bullshit."

"Sadly, that´s not how life goes."

"At least we have each other?" 

"At least we have each other," Timothée repeats before leaning on his toes to kiss Armie once more. 

"I have to go now, but I´m looking forward to our celebration tonight....and the one we´re doing tomorrow."

Timothée arches an eyebrow. "What celebration we are doing tomorrow?"

"That´s a little surprise, actually."

"I´m not really a surprise kind of person, Armie."

"Well, that´s too bad." Timothée shoots him a look and Armie shrugs. "It´s nothing big, but I think we should celebrate your graduation and since we´re not going on our road trip yet, I decided to do something."

"Seriously, Armie, I´m not..."

"Chill out, okay?"

"Okay," Timothée says with a sigh.

Armie chuckles at the look on his face, pinches his cheeks playfully and then pulls him in for one last kiss. "I´ll see you tonight."

"See ya."

Timothée laughs as Armie pecks his lips and then runs away, waving his hands around. He´s a freaking weird goofball, but Timothée loves him just like that.

"You think you´ll ever stop looking at him like this?" Zac asks as he walks over to Timothée, who arches an eyebrow. "Like an idiot in love, I mean."

"Funny, very funny."

"I´m serious, dude, you two are just too much."

"Fuck off," he says while pushing Zac away. "So, where´s the girl you were talking to?"

  
  


***************

 

Armie rolls up the sleeve of his buttoned shirt, the color and the fabric annoying the hell out of him, but he is aware his mother set up this encounter in a fancy place and although he doesn´t care about the way people look at him, he knows the conversation itself will be hard enough without the extra attention, so he put on an effort...or at least tried his best to. 

Still inside the car, he takes a look at the large bakery and all the women walking in and out of it, all of them extremely well dressed and ready to meet their friends for an afternoon tea. It seems ironic that his mother would choose a place like this for their conversation, considering that she had hosted many of these little gatherings in her house while he was growing up and he usually hated them.

He takes on a deep breath and then exhales, doing his best to relax his mind and body. He steps out of the car, making sure to lock it behind him and heads inside the shop, his eyes wandering around the place until he spots his mother sitting on a far corner, sipping on her tea.

Julia waves at him, a small smile appearing on her face as Armie approaches her and takes a seat across from her on the table. She remains in silence, watching as he rubs his hands on his jeans, his body tense and his eyes constantly wandering around the room. He´s clearly not very comfortable in this environment.

"Should I have chosen a different place? Maybe a hot dog stand?"

Armie smiles from the corner of his lips. "I don´t think you can handle more than ten minutes in a hot dog stand, mom."

"I probably can´t, but I would try for you."

Armie stares at her, no answer, no smile, just his blue eyes stuck on hers. 

"Why are we here, mom? Are you gonna try to find excuses for the things Viktor and dad said to me?"

"No, that´s not why I am here."

"Then tell me why are you here and why you asked to see me."

"Because I miss you, Armie. I know you might not believe me, but you and your brother are the most important things in my life, I would do anything for you two and that´s why for so long I acted the way I did. I always thought I was doing what was best for the both of you, but when you decided to leave home, when you fought for your freedom from us, I realized that I might have not been the mother I always thought I was."

Armie swallows dryly, leaning his back on the chair as he attentively looks at his mother. He has never heard her talk so openly about herself like this, which is a little unsettling but also extremely important for both of them.

"I was raised in a very old fashioned way, Armie, I was taught that our way of living was the only right way. Your aunt noticed quite soon that all of those things my father said to us, they weren´t true, but I stuck with his words for basically all of my life and I tried to force those thoughts on you and your brother, without realizing the mistake I was doing. I should have taught you both to be respectful, to be kind, loving and the best version of you that you could be, but without trying to erase what was naturally yours."

Julia sighs, calmly wiping away some tears that dare to fall down her cheeks. She reaches for Armie´s hand and holds it on hers, her thumb slowly stroking his palm.

"I know I said and did things in the past that have hurt you, I know I refused to listen to you when you were only trying to explain your passions to me. I was horrible to you, I put you through hell and now I can finally see that, I can finally understand...well, not exactly, I´m not you, so I will never be able to understand the pain you´ve been through. But I can try to fix the things I did back then by being a better mother now, by helping you with whatever you might need and showing my support for you and for Timothée."

Armie blinks a couple of times, completely taken back by the words of his mother. He came in here thinking she would give him a million excuses to his father´s behavior, that she would somehow ask him to be more comprehensive with their actions, but instead she is the one apologizing. And of course, she has been trying to show him she changed, but she had never been this open about the things she has done and said to him. 

"Mom, do you mean everything you are saying to me right now?"

"I have never been this honest my entire life, Armie. Not with you, your father, my own sister...to anyone. I let myself become an egocentric woman, who could only see the world through my own point of view, I allowed my faith to cloud my better judgment and forgot the most important thing I´ve learned in church, which is love. Like I said before, I´m not gonna pretend I wasn´t surprised and shocked by seeing you  with another man, but I barely got you back into my life, Armie, I´m not gonna lose you again by not being the mother you deserve."

"Mom..."

"I saw the way you looked at Timothée, I saw the glow in your eyes and the smile on your face when he talked and I haven´t seen that in years, Armie. I don´t care who you´re with, as long as that person makes you happy and I can see that Timothée does. So even though your father, who has always been a lot more open minded that I was, can´t support you, I will do that."

Armie looks down, tears filling his eyes as he takes a couple of deep breaths. He can barely find the words to speak right now, his heart pounding on his chest and so many emotions going through his body.

"I just have one more thing to say, okay?" Armie looks up and nods his head, sniffing away his tears. "Although I am trying to be better, I know there will be moments that I will probably screw up and maybe even say things I shouldn´t, but all I ask from you is that you help me improve myself. Can you do that?"

"I can do that, I can help you."

"Thank you, son."

Armie shrugs, leaning down to kiss her hands as she smiles. "Does dad know you´re here?"

"He knows I was trying to talk to you."

"And how did he react?"

"He wasn´t pleased."

"But you did it anyway?"

There´s a pause from Julia and something different crosses her eyes, but she simply shrugs, putting on a smile that Armie knows well enough it´s fake. As she remains silent, Armie leans closer to her, for a moment he thinks of forcing her to say whatever crossed her mind, but then he realizes she has already said a lot more than he expected today.

"I never expected him to act that way, mom."

"None of us did, sweetie. Your father never seemed to have a problem with gays, whenever we came across a couple at a party or even at the company, he always seemed okay with it."

"That´s because none of them were his son, none of them carried his precious family name, but I do. I wonder how he´s gonna react when he finds out Tim doesn´t come from a rich family."

"One day your father will realize a name doesn´t make a person, Armie."

"I think it´s a bit too late for him, mom."

Julia shrugs. "It´s never too late, Armie."

  
  


*****************

  
  


It's almost eight and the waves crash calmly on the shore, a soothing sound that almost seems like a lullaby. Sitting alone on the lifeguard stand is Timothée, back against the wooden structure as he blows out smoke into the air. He hears footsteps on the sand and soon enough Armie is standing at the bottom of the structure, a small smile on his tired face.

Timothée looks him up and down, smirking as he notices the clothes that are far from what Armie is used to wearing. He has long sleeved buttoned shirt on, which he obviously rolled up the sleeves, dark jeans with no holes or paint on them and fancy shoes he probably hasn't wore in years. The only way he could look more preppy was if he had shaved the stubble off, which Timothée is glad he didn't. 

"You clean up well," he mocks.

"So I've heard."

Armie drags himself up the ramp, nearly throws himself on the ground, automatically wrapping his arm around Timothée's shoulder and bringing him closer. He lifts his chin, smiles down at him and stares at his eyes for a brief moment before they share a tender kiss. Once they pull away, Armie keeps their eyes locked, his finger pushing a few rebel curls behind his ear.

"I'm sorry for being late, but the conversation with my mom lasted a lot longer than I expected."

"Don't worry, I figured this was what was keeping you busy. How was it?"

Armie reaches out for the joint and takes it a long drag, blowing out the smoke along with a sigh. He leans back on the wall, his eyes up to the starry sky as he tries to find a good word to summarize his time with his mother.

"Emotional and tiring."

Timothée frowns, "I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing."

"A little bit of both, I guess. It was sad to see my mom crying and it wasn't easy at all to hear the things she said about herself, but at the same time it was the most honest conversation we ever had in our lives, so it felt good."

"I'm glad you two are being able to rebuild your relationship, I think it's gonna be great for both of you to go through this together."

Armie takes a drag of the weed while watching Timothée closely, the little break in his voice as he said those words, the small smile he attempts to put on. Armie doesn't really need much to understand what he is thinking.

"You wish you and your father could have a second chance too, right?"

Timothée shrugs. "It's a difficult situation, actually. I keep telling myself that I hate him, but I also can't help but wonder how he would be if things had gone a different path, if he had not drowned himself in booze and..."

As he trails off, Armie cradles his face and leans his forehead against his while stroking his cheeks. "Hey, it's okay to feel this way. Feelings are way too complex for us to try and make it all black or white, so whatever you are feeling deep inside of you, know it's valid."

"Armie Hammer, street artist and motivational speaker."

"You're always mocking me when I'm trying to be serious," he says with a pout as Timothée laughs and pulls him into a hug. Armie chuckles, kisses his hair and then leans back on the wall, pulling Timothée down with him. 

They remain quiet for a moment, sharing the joint until is all burned out and the lingering smell of the weed is all that remains. Armie looks down at Timothée with a smile, feeling relaxed and happy to have him in his arms after such an emotional afternoon with his mother.

"So, are you ready to start our celebrations?"

Timothée sits down straight, a frown upon his face. "I thought we were already doing it."

"You thought sitting here doing nothing was our celebration? You graduated high school, Tim, we gotta do something better than this."

"You already said you have a surprise for me tomorrow, can't we just stick to that? I'm totally fine with us just chilling tonight."

"No, we can't just chill."

"We can make out a little too."

"That actually sounds good, but I know something even better." He winks and gets up, watching Timothée's eyes widen as he starts taking off his clothes.

"Armie, what the fuck are you doing?"

"We're going skinny dipping."

"Hell no."

"C'mon, Tim, let's live a little."

"What is it with you and breaking the law? Does it turn you on or something?"

Armie chuckles, pulling Timothée up. "You're the only thing that turns me on."

"Cute, but I'm still not going there with you."

"It's gonna be fun, Tim, I promise."

"Armie, this is a very public place and the last thing I need is getting arrested on the night before my graduation."

"No one is getting arrested, Tim." 

"I'm not going, Armie."

"Okay, you can stay here." He winks and then pulls Timothée close, kissing him quickly before he runs down the ramp and across the sand, diving in as soon as he's deep enough. He screams as he swims back to the surface, the cold water washing away his worries and all the stress of such a difficult afternoon.

Timothée leans against the rail, watching with a smile on his face as Armie swims, splashes water around and waves at him. He truly seems to be having the time of his life, which honestly makes him feel a little bit jealous. He chuckles at himself and then sighs, taking off his clothes as soon as possible. He stops by the ramp for a second, debates on whether or not this is a good idea and then runs across the sand and straight into Armie's arms, a loud laugh escaping them both as they spin around, the ocean and the moon their only witnesses.

  
  


****************

 

The streets are strangely quiet for a Friday night, but it feels just perfect for Armie and Timothée as they walk around the pier, arms wrapped around one another and broad smiles on their faces. Timothée´s hair is still wet, his curls clouding his vision from time to time and Armie, ever so attentive, doesn´t waste any time in pushing them back. It´s a nice gesture, that he can´t deny, but Timothée can´t help but laugh every time he does so, which obviously only makes him even more eager to do it again.

Their fun in the water lasted only a couple of minutes, but it was everything they needed to wash away the tension that had consumed them throughout the day; on Armie´s case it was his conversation with his mother and for Timothée, the ever rising anxiety for graduation. But as always, when they come together, problems seem to dissipate and everything seems easier and prettier. They can only hope things remain this way for as long as they are together, that they can always be each other's refuge.

"...and I, of course, made the mistake of listening to Jake, so right when they called my name, I was high as fuck and could barely get up those steps without making a fool of myself."

"Yeah, I´ve learned a very valuable lesson with this whole story."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I´m staying as far from you and Jake as possible tomorrow. I worked my ass off to be here, I want to remember my graduation day and the party that comes afterwards."

"I do remember graduation day," Armie protests as Timothée shoots him a look. "Okay, maybe some things are a bit cloudy, doesn´t mean I forgot everything."

Timothée laughs, bumping his hips with Armie´s, who simply winks at him. "Are the guys and Lois joining us for the party tomorrow?"

"Yes, they are. It took Lois a little bit of convincing, because she´s still a bit bummed over her breakup, but I made sure to tell her you would be very disappointed if she didn´t show up."

"So basically you lied to her?"

"Whoa, she´ll hear about that."

"I´m just kidding, Armie."

"I don´t care, I´m gonna tell her anyway, that way she will lash out on you and not me."

"That´s absolutely not fair."

"And is it fair that she lashes out on me?"

"You´re the one who decided to live with her," Timothée says with a shrug as Armie gasps. "Besides, you tell her that and you won´t be getting action from me any time soon."

"Yeah, but that also means you won´t be getting any action from me any time soon and let´s be honest, we both know you love it."

"God, you´re so fucking full of yourself."

"Am I lying?"

"Sadly, no you´re not." Timothée says while rolling his eyes. 

He nearly squeals as Armie pulls on his arm and leads him into a little dark and humid alley, a lot similar to the one they shared their first kiss. He chuckles as Armie looks around the place, as if trying to find the best place for them to be in; Armie sighs, turns to face him and hooks his arm around his slim waist, pulling him close to his body. Timothée smiles, his hands leaned against Armie´s chest as he stands on his toes, reaching for his lips.

They kiss for a couple of minutes, only breaking away when they are both in desperate need for air, but making sure to quick fall back into each other´s arms and touch. The last two days had been kind of busy since Timothée had a lot of school work to finish and Armie was focusing on the project he had going on with a small coffee company in Venice, where he would paint the walls of their new shop, so it was only logical that they took full advantage of every single second together like it was the last.

"You staying tonight, right?"

"I´m sorry to disappoint, but no."

"What? Why not?"

"Because I know myself and I also know you, Armie. If I go to your place tonight, we´re gonna end up late tomorrow."

"No, we won´t." He says quickly as Timothée chuckles. "Seriously, I won´t even touch you."

"We´re gonna sleep on the same bed and you won´t even touch me?" Armie nods and Timothée shakes his head, squeezing his biceps. "I´m pretty sure not even you can believe in what you just said."

"I probably wouldn´t be able to stick with that promise, I admit, but c´mon you´ve stayed at your place for the last two nights in a row."

"And I´ll spend the next two on yours, but tonight I´m going home."

"That´s not fair."

"I promise I will find a way to make it up to you."

"I´m listening," Armie smirks, his hands sneaking inside Timothée´s shirt. 

"I´ll think about it and tomorrow I will let you know."

"When did you become such a fucking tease?"

"I can tell you like it."

"Umm, no I don´t like it."

Timothée looks down in between them, only to look back at Armie with a smirk. "He tells me otherwise."

"You know what? Fuck you."

"I have a feeling you would rather do that."

Armie stares down at Timothée for a good minute, his cheeks a deep shade of red as he licks his lips. His grip on Timothée loses a bit, his whole body reacting to such a bold statement, one he had never heard before coming from Timothée.

"You...you seriously need to stop if you want to make sure you sleep at your own bed tonight, Timmy."

Timothée bites on his lip, but nods his head, leaning closer to kiss Armie once more. "You´re with Lois´ car?"

"Y-yes."

"Can you drop me off at home?"

"Yeah, I think the cool breeze will do me good."

Timothée chuckles, taking Armie´s hand in his while they exit the alley. "You´re thinking of a cold shower, actually."

"See? I can´t even think straight now and is all your fault."

"I can live with that."

  
  


*****************

  
  


Eleanor opens the bedroom door, frowning as she notices the place is completely empty. She hears water running in the kitchen and rushes down the hallway, leaning against the kitchen´s wall as she watches Timothée washing the dishes. She crosses her arms, a stern look on her face as Timothée turns to her, slightly confused by her expression.

"Why are you looking at me like this?"

"Why are you washing the dishes instead of going to take your shower, Timothée? Graduation starts in less than two hours, you need to go get yourself ready."

"Mom, everything´s alright."

"I don´t want you to get late, Timothée, so quit the dishes and go shower. Have you chosen your outfit already?"

"Jeans and a shirt, like everyone else."

"Are you sure that´s enough? Maybe you could wear that suit we bought you a few years ago, I´m sure it still fits."

"A suit?" Timothée chuckles, turning off the faucet as he walks over to his mother, wrapping his arms around her waist. "No one is gonna be wearing a suit, mom."

"Are you sure?"

He chuckles while nodding his head. "I´m absolutely sure, so just chill out."

"Fine. I´m going over to Mrs. Gonzalez so she can help me get my hair done and I´ll probably go straight to school from there, is that okay?"

"Yep, that´s fine."

"Are you sure you?"

"Mom, school is two blocks away from here, I´ll be fine." He winks and places a kiss on her cheek, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You look beautiful, by the way."

"Wow, I haven´t heard that in years."

"You should hear it every day, mom."

"Stop it, we can´t waste time on this things."

"Mom, you are beautiful and you should be reminded of that every single day of your life." Timothée kisses her once more, the smile on his mother´s face making his heart swell with love. "Now go get even more beautiful than you already are and I will see you at school, where you´ll see me with a cap on and with a degree on my hands."

"That will be truly be the happiest moment of my life."

He winks, cradling her face. "I love you, mom."

"Love you too, son."

"Now go or else we´ll both be late."

"Yes, yes you´re right," she says while reaching for her purse. Eleanor takes one last look at Timothée, placing a kiss on his cheek before she can rush out of the house, her excitement easy for anyone to see.

Timothée can´t help but smile, seeing his mother like this, so happy about something he has accomplished makes him feel so proud of himself. Or better yet, even prouder of himself, because after all the lows he hit, all the moments he questioned everything around him, Timothée made it, he finished something important and even if life won't be a bed of roses, he has this ever growing faith inside of him now and he´s gonna hang on to it until his last breath. 

He runs a hand through his hair, rushes out to his bedroom and goes through the very small collection of buttoned shirts he owns, trying to decide which one of them will look better on him. He reaches for the simpler one, a black one with some small details in white and lays it on the bed along with his best jeans. 

He takes his time on the shower, the water hitting his shoulders and helping him relax, even if just a little. He´s excited for the whole ceremony, but he´s also anxious and a bit scared; the idea of standing on a stage and having everyone looking at him makes him a bit edgy, what if he trips and falls face first on the ground? Well, at leats that would give something else for people to talk about behind his back, because the whole he´s gay thing is starting to get old.

He makes it out of the bathroom and quickly puts on his clothes, his fingers running through his wet hair as he tries to stylish it somehow. He looks at himself in the mirror and smiles wide at himself as he thinks about the last couple of days, how helpful and understanding Armie was throughout the last week of school, the plans he and Zac made for the skate championship that comes in only a couple of days, the job he just got and the future that might be ahead of him. 

How long will it take for Timothée to be the person he has always dreamt of being, he isn´t exactly sure, but he is confident that one day he will be able to let out a breath, look at himself in the mirror and tell himself that all the scars that he has on his body are nothing but history.

He checks his phone, groans as he notices he has a bit more than half an hour to go and rushes out of the bathroom, poking his head inside his bedroom to make sure he isn´t forgetting anything. He places his phone in his pocket, heads out of the house and stops by the front door, a frown as his eyes wander to Matthew, who´s trying his best to keep himself standing. 

Timothée bites on his lip, closes his eyes for a brief second and tries to force his legs to simply move past his father and forget he ever even saw this scene. Sadly, for some reason he might never truly understand, Timothée simply can´t do it. He walks over to Matthew, wraps an arm around his waist and pulls him closer, trying his best to hold all the weight he throws at him. 

The smell of booze is stronger than ever and the fact Timothée doesn´t remember seeing him home last night, an indication that he might have spent the entire night drowning himself in alcohol. He shakes his head, dragging Matthew along with him inside the house, hearing his nearly incoherent mumbles as he tries to disentangle himself from him.

"Stop, you´re gonna end up falling to the ground."

"Fuck off," he says while pushing himself away, which causes him to trip on his own feet and nearly bring Timothée to the ground along with him.

Timothée doesn´t even try to argue, he knows it´s not worth it, so he simply grips tighter onto his waist and drags him around the house and down the hallway. He steals a couple of glances at Matthew, flashbacks from when he was young and he actually looked like a decent person flooding his mind. Timothée can´t really pinpoint the moment things went wrong with him, but he knows it has gotten a lot worse in the last couple of years. Sometimes he wishes he could go back in time and meet Matthew before he was born, meet the man his mother fell in love with.

Matthew groans as Timothée pushes him down on the bed, moving his body around so he can lie down better, his hands instantly reaching for the pillows, which he embraces as tight as he possibly can. He blinks a couple of times, rubs his eyes and then moves his gaze over to Timothée, who stares down at him.

"What you looking at?"

"Don´t you get tired?"

"Oh please..."

"Tell me, don´t you ever get tired of this miserable life you´re living? Don´t you ever think about how good your life could be if you would stop drowning yourself in booze every single day and night?"

Matthew rolls his eyes, shaking his head as he buries himself deeper in between the pillows. Meanwhile, Timothée stares down at him with tears filling his eyes and a bundle of emotions unraveling inside of him.

"I can´t actually believe that you enjoy this thing you´re doing to yourself and everyone around you. I can´t possibly believe that you don´t think of how good your life could be if you would stop this and look for help, if you would give yourself and us a chance to live a good and normal life."

Their eyes are locked together, Matthew impassive and serious, while Timothée tries his best to hold back his tears, but finds it hard to do it when suddenly all of these feeling he has been holding on are coming back to the surface.

"Today is my graduation, you know? I finished high school and I´m gonna get on a stage and receive a degree in front of all of my friends, in front of the people I love. In fact, I should already be on my way there, but I´m standing here, helping you and I don´t even know why."

"Maybe it´s because you´re weak, ever thought about that?"

"Or maybe, it´s because even though I spend my entire life with you, I didn´t allow your habits to become mine. I could be a drunk too by now, I could be out there beating up people for talking about me or giving me dirty looks, but I´m not like you, I like to be a good person and think of others."

"Do you want a pat on the back or something?"

"I don´t even know what´s the point of all this, but I need to ask you one thing."

"Seriously, kid, you´re pissing me off and..."

"Have you ever cared about me?" Timothée bites hard on his lip, his teary eyes staring down at Matthew, waiting for him to say something. "Have you ever looked at me with a look other than the one of indifference, hate and utter disgust that you usually do? Have you ever loved me like a father should love his son?"

"His son...." Matthew mumbles while shaking his head. "Don´t you have somewhere else to be?"

"I´m such a moron for even trying to talk to you."

"Well, we both agree on that."

Timothée shakes his head, storming out of the bedroom and slamming the door shut behind him. He leans against the wall, finally allowing all his tears to fall as he feels his whole body tremble. The ringing of his phone startles him, but he quickly reaches for it, trying to control himself when he sees Armie´s name on the small screen.

"Hey," his voice sounds broken despite his attempt to sound cool, but the sigh he hears on the other side of the line is enough for him to know Armie doesn´t buy it.

"What happened?"

"Nothing, everything´s alright."

"Why are you lying to me?"

Timothée lets out a breath, wiping away his tears as he makes his way out of the house, the fresh air of the Saturday morning helping him calm down.

"There was a small issue here, but nothing for you to worry about, okay? I´ll be there in five minutes."

"You want me to pick you up?"

"No, it´s alright. I´ll see in a few minutes."

"You sure you´re okay?"

"Yes, don´t worry."

"Hurry up, it´s about to start."

"Don´t worry, I won´t miss this for anything in the world."


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A testimony of their love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter we´ve all been waiting for :)

**Venice Ink**

**Part30**

  
  


The sky is of an intense shade of blue, no clouds in sight as a crowd gathers on the school´s yard, cheering every single time a name is called out to the stage. Right on the front row of guests is a restless Armie, who bites on his nails as he waits for Timothée´s name to be called, his camera resting on his lap. He feels a hand on his leg and looks over to Eleanor, who gives him a reassuring smile and makes Armie chuckle.

On top of the stage, Timothée sits right beside Zac, both of them clearly nervous, but trying their best to mascarade it by making silly jokes and trying to make each other laugh. Timothée´s eyes wander around the yard, a wide smile on his face as his eyes land on Armie, who winks at him and waves his camera in the air. He rolls his eyes, sticks his tongue out while widening his eyes and then leans back on the chair, going back to his polite self.

Armie chuckles, shaking his head before his eyes wander down to the camera and he goes through some of the photos he has taken. He feels someone nudge him and turns to the side, arching an eyebrow as Lois chuckles, taking a hold of his chin.

"You are the proudest boyfriend I have ever seen in my life, but chill out or you´re gonna end up drooling."

"Fuck off."

"Language, guys."

"Sorry, Mrs. Chalamet," they both say in unison, Armie´s cheeks turning a bright pink. "My cousin simply can´t keep those awful words from his mouth."

"Shut up, Lois."

"You guys, he´s next."

Armie sits up straight, prepares his camera and smiles wide as Timothée´s name is called. He claps and whistles, clearly the loudest person in the entire place, but he couldn´t give a damn about it. Timothée, his boyfriend, is graduating despite everything that he has gone through, so Armie couldn´t be prouder.

He snaps a couple of pictures, watches as Timothée shyly goes through the stage and takes a couple of pictures with the principal while holding onto his degree. He then turns to Armie, who laughs loudly as he makes a couple of silly faces for the photos and then winks.

"Thank you, Armie," Eleanor says while patting his knee and catching his attention. "Thank you for being so good to my son."

"Mrs. Chalamet, you don´t have to thank me for anything. Your son has showed me a brand new life and I am more than thankful for it."

"In this case, we´re both very thankful,” she says while squeezing Armie´s hand.

Gradually, every single name was called and each student had their moment of glory, standing beside the principal as they took photos. The audience cheered enthusiastically, clapping after every name, showing support to teenagers who were about to go out and face the world. Timothée and Zac ran towards each other as soon as they could, standing on the side of the stage as they heard the principal's last words. 

Timothée was feeling quite emotional, the fact he was standing there, successfully closing a chapter of his life he struggled so much with seemed like a huge accomplishment and to see not only his mother, but also Armie, Lois, Jake and Mark standing there for him made him feel cherished and loved. Although Zac and Eleanor had always been there for him, Timothée was reaching a point where all his hope was slipping through his fingers and finding Armie, making new friends, that brought him back to life and even made school seem easier. 

A loud cheer echoes once the principal is done and Timothée chuckles as the caps are thrown in the air, just like he used to see in movies. He turns to Zac, grabs onto his shoulder and they both scream at one another before sharing a tight hug.

"We made it, dude."

"I still can't believe it," Zac sighs while shaking his head. "We're ready for the real world, bro. Think you can handle it?"

"I think I'm willing to try."

Zac chuckles and pulls him back into the hug, patting his back as Timothée ruffles his hair. They laugh, messing with one another before they are joined by the rest of the group and Eleanor, who rushes to Timothée with a bright smile on her face.

"I'm so so proud of you, baby."

"Thanks, mom."

"You are an incredible person, Timothée. You're strong, intelligent and very much loved, so believe me when I say your life is gonna be filled with happy moments."

"And you're gonna be part of all of them, mom."

"Let's hope so," she whispers before kissing his cheek, her arms wrapping tightly around his body. "I love you, kid."

"I love you too, mom."

Timothée pulls away with a couple of tears in his eyes, his smile bigger than anything he has ever experienced. His eyes wander to Armie, who stands behind his mother, hands tucked inside his jeans and a proud glow in his eyes. Timothée sighs, takes a step closer to him and slides his hands across his face, his thumb gently stroking Armie's cheek before he pulls him closer, their lips locked together instantly.

"I'm so glad you're here."

"Did you have any doubt?"

"Not really, but it's always good to remind myself that you'll be here for me."

"I will always be by your side, Tim, no matter what."

"And I thank you for that."

"Don't thank me, I'm doing this for my own selfish needs." Armie winks and Timothée chuckles, hitting his chest. "Seriously now, I'm really proud of you. I struggled a lot with high school, and I didn't go through half of the things you go through. You're an inspiration for me, even if you might never believe it."

"Are you trying to make me cry?"

"No, but I made a promise that every single day I would help you understand just how amazing you truly are." 

"I hate you and your way with words." Armie chuckles and Timothée smiles, kissing him once more. "Thank you, you're truly the reason why I'm still hopeful about life. You give me strength, Armie."

"Right back at ya."

Jake coughs, putting on a wide smile as he finally catches Armie and Timothée's attention. "Hi. So, we're all very into your love fest, it's truly beautiful, but we're starting to get hungry here."

"You really know how to ruin a moment, don't you?" Armie rolls his eyes, his hand sliding into Timothée's waist and pulling him closer. "Mrs. Chalamet, you're joining us for lunch, right?"

"Thank you for the offer, Armie, but I'm pretty sure no one wants me to tag along."

"I want," Timothée quickly fires back. "I'm not taking no for an answer, mom, you're joining us."

"I don't know, I don't think it's a good idea."

"We're very well behaved, Mrs. Chalamet," Jake reassures with a smile on his face.

"And my parents are going too," Zac says while wrapping his arm around Eleanor. "C'mon, it's gonna be fun."

Eleanor sighs, nodding her head as they all cheer. "Fine, I'll go."

  
  


*****************

  
  


It's almost two in the afternoon when Armie parks the car just a couple of houses away from Timothée's. He knows what happened earlier that morning, he is fully aware that Matthew still might be home and he knows any possible confrontation would end badly, which is the last thing he wants for Timothée and especially Eleanor. She was out of the house, she put on a dress and make up for the first time in years, she laughed and enjoyed herself. Armie wants to make sure that lasts as long as possible.

With a sigh, Eleanor unbuckles the seatbelt and leans forward, her hand resting on Armie's shoulder as she smiles. "Thank you for driving us home, Armie."

"It was my pleasure, Mrs. Chalamet."

She cradles his face, places a kiss on his cheek and then turns to Timothée, doing the exact same. 

"I'll leave you two alone to talk some more."

"I'll be inside in a minute, mom."

"Take your time, sweetie."

Timothée nods and watches as she steps out of the car and heads towards their house, the smile on her face making him feel so much happiness, he can barely put into words.

"Did you see how happy she looked today?" Timothée turns to Armie, closing his eyes as he feels his hands cradle his face, his touch warm and soothing. "I can't wait until that is the new normal for her, you know? I want her to be able to turn the page and live the life she deserves."

"She will, Tim, just like you will do it too."

"I hope you're right."

"I am," he leans in for a kiss and strokes Timothée's cheeks. "Are you ready for your first present of the day?"

"How many presents have you got me?"

"Just two," he reaches for something on the glove compartment and hands it to Timothée, biting on his lip as he stares down at the package. "And I am aware that you'll probably gonna be pissed at me for buying you this, but you know what? Screw you and your whole I shouldn't buy you presents thing, you're my boyfriend and I am allowed to give you presents whenever I want to."

"I never said you were not allowed to give me presents, Armie, I just made sure you knew I didn't want you spending all your money with me."

"Well, I think there's no better way to spend my money than with you."

"Armie..."

"Just open it, I'm sure you'll actually love it."

Timothée smirks and turns his eyes down to the small package, swiftly unwrapping it. He takes the lid off of the box and bites hard on his lip as he sees there's an iPod inside, exactly like the ones he was staring at the record store in Los Angeles.

"I can't believe you bought this, Armie."

"I could tell how much you liked it, Tim."

"I did, but this is too much."

"No, it's not."

Timothée sighs, places the box down on the dash and leans closer to Armie, leaning their foreheads together. "Thank you."

"That's it? I don't even get a kiss?"

Timothée chuckles, takes a careful look around the place and then pulls Armie in for a heated and passionate kiss. He pulls away breathless, his cheeks flushed and his lips shiny. 

"Thank you so much for this, but most importantly, for everything else you've been doing for me."

"Again, my own selfish needs."

"Stop it!"

Armie chuckles. "There's some music on it already, okay? I added some things I know you like, but also some of my favorite ones."

"Is this a present for me or both of us?"

"What's mine is yours, babe."

"Are we married now?" Armie smirks and Timothée laughs, pecking his lips a few times. "I have to go now, but I'll see you tonight for the party, right?"

"I'll come pick you up at seven thirty, is that alright?"

"I'll be waiting." He kisses Armie once again, his fingers tracing his lips before kisses him one more time, causing him to chuckle.

"I know I'm irresistible, but I think you have to go."

"Yes, I do." He grabs the box with the iPod and smiles at Armie. "Thank you, I absolutely loved the present."

Armie nods and watches as Timothée jumps out of the car and rushes inside his house, waving at Armie before he closes the door. Armie sighs, his mind unable to think of a time he was this happy.

  
  


****************

  
  


[ **//now_playing//** _ Hey Ya! - OutKast _ ](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2djlw0fjLxZaCYXR8HMHYs?si=E5btHb78Syq-Sxc4tdQRsw)

 

The music plays loud on the crowded club and psychedelic lights seem to dance among the people, who cheer, sing along, drink and make out in every single corner. It´s a typical high school graduation party, even the occasional fight has already taken place, which left some people crying, some people bothered, but most were unaffected by the events.

Close to the bar, Armie and Timothée laugh as they try to come up with a couple of dance moves, each one of them trying to get the other to engage in their silliness. It has been a whole day of carefree fun, a day where Armie has been able to see nothing but sheer joy on Timothée´s face, which consequently made him feel even better than he already was. 

He reaches for Timothée´s hand, pulls him closer and then twirls him around, earning a loud laugh that honestly sounds better than the music itself. He chuckles, an arm tightly wrapped around Timothée´s waist as he presses their bodies together, his free hand tucking a few strands of hair behind his ear.

"You look so damn beautiful when you´re this happy."

"So I´m not beautiful generally?" Armie rolls his eyes and Timothée chuckles, grabbing onto his shirt. "You´re what makes me happy, so I guess it´s technically your fault."

"I´ll take the blame for putting on a smile on your face every single day of my life."

Timothée smiles, leans in to kiss Armie and then pushes him back. He takes his hands again, does a couple more moves and laughs as Armie tries to pull off some 80´s moves. Armie smiles and tries to pull on his best seductive look, slowly walking towards Timothée, who tries his best to keep himself serious, but bursts out laughing in the end.

"You´re terrible at dancing, has anyone ever told you that?"

Armie gasps, a hand to his heart in feigned hurt. "How dare you say something like this?"

"Oh, have I hurt your feelings?"

"Yes, a little bit."

"I´ll make it up to you."

"And how do you plan on doing this?"

Timothée arches an eyebrow, his hands sliding from Armie´s chest to the waistline of his jeans, which he pulls on. "I have some things in mind, but I don´t think they´re very appropriate to be discussed here, you know?"

"Oh really? That´s...interesting." Armie watches the little smirk that creeps on Timothée´s face with amusement, his fingers playing with the hem of his shirt. "You´re all about teasing me these days, huh?"

"I have done nothing to you tease."

"I beg to differ."

"Well, I can´t do much about that, can I?"

"You´re such a little shit," Armie says with a laugh as Timothée chuckles and pulls him down for a kiss. "But I can´t live without you any longer."

"Right back at ya."

A loud cheer echoes as the music changes and people rush to the middle of the dance floor. Armie watches with amusement as Jake and Mark stand right in the middle, jumping up and down while shouting the lyrics from the top of their lungs. He looks over at Timothée, who's giggling uncontrollably and smiles wide, pulling him in for another heated kiss.

They are pulled apart by Lois, who has a little smirk on her face as she looks at them both. "I hate to stop the fun, but you guys are seriously gonna stand here all alone while we all have fun over there? C´mon, I only made it out of the house today so we could celebrate together. I want you two dancing with me, right now."

Armie turns to Timothée, who shrugs his shoulders and then laughs as Lois grabs their hands and leads them to the middle of the dance floor, joining their friends, who throw their hands up in the air as they approach.

"Well, finally someone managed to get you two into the fun."

"We were having fun," Armie complains as Zac rolls his eyes, but pats his back.

The chorus comes on again and the whole club goes crazy, everyone singing as loud as they possibly can, dancing and jumping up and down. Armie chuckles, but follows suit, joining his friend in the dance moves and watching as Timothée headbangs along with Lois, pure joy in his eyes.

 

 **//now_playing//** _Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) - The Offspring_

  
  


*****************

  
  


Although a great deal of people seem to have already left or disappeared into the dark corners of the club, the place is still packed with people dancing and drinking. Leaned against the bar, waiting for Zac, Timothée watches as Jake and Lois dance together, a smile on her face as Jake talks non stop. He chuckles, knowing full well Armie would love the scene, but he has wandered off with some friends he reencountered from high school.

"Here," Zac says while handing him a beer. "So, how´s things at home?"

"Really? You think this is the place for us to talk about this?"

"You never talk about this, Tim, I might as well try to take something out of you whenever I get the chance."

Timothée shrugs, taking a few sips of his beer. "Things haven´t changed much, but they are pretty chill the past few days. I haven´t seen him much, to be honest, and now that I am about to start working, I truly hope I see him even less."

"You know you can always crash at my place if you need. Don´t even engage with him, if you can manage that, he´s not worth it. And please, let me know what I can possibly do to help, you shouldn´t be on that house anymore."

"Zac, we´ve talked about this before and I really don´t want to worry about him right now. I actually had a great day, despite him, so I just want to make sure that lasts."

"Okay, sorry for bringing it up."

Timothée shrugs. "You care, that´s why you do."

"Hey, can I have my boyfriend for a minute?" Armie says while sneaking up on Timothée, his hands resting on his hips as he smiles to Zac. 

"Go, I wouldn´t dare to get in your way."

"Thanks," he winks and then grabs Timothée´s hand, leading him to an even emptier corner. "I know this is your graduation party and you probably want to enjoy it as much as possible, but would it be okay if we went home?"

"No problem at all, I´m actually getting a bit tired and if I remember correctly, I still have one present to get, right?"

"For someone who didn´t want presents..."

"I didn´t, but you promised me something and now I want it."

"Hopefully it will fulfill your expectations," he says while wrapping an arm around Timothée´s shoulder, pulling him closer. "Should we say goodbye or just sneak out as fast we can?"

"Definitely sneak out."

  
  


***************

  
  


The door closes behind them with a loud thud, but not even that causes them to break away from each other. Their hands are tightly gripping onto one another´s body, their low moans increasing by the second and their lips and tongue fight for control in a war with no losers. There´s been an undeniable tension growing between them for the past few days, sparks of desire that are nearly too much to be controlled and to be honest, neither one of them truthfully wants to control those feelings.

Backed against the wall, Armie´s hand sneak inside Timothée´s shirt, feeling the warmth of his skin and making him shiver. That´s absolutely one of the best feelings he has ever felt, the knowledge that he can cause such an effect of Timothée leaves Armie nearly high.

Timothée moans softly through the kiss, his nails sinking into Armie´s flesh while his hips thrust forward, increasing the friction between them. He can feel Armie through his pants and it nearly drives him crazy with desire, he wants to touch and feel him, he wants to forget about all the fantasies and dive into reality, he wants him and Armie to become one being.

Armie moves his hands through Timothée´s body, locks his fingers on his curls and slightly pulls on them, his eyes opening to appreciate the beauty that is Timothée as he stands there, head slightly leaned back, cheeks flushed a deep crimson and lips shiny and swollen.

They stare at each other for a moment, eyes and body telling everything there needs to be said between the two of them. Timothée nods slowly, licking his lips as he takes Armie´s hand in his and lets him lead him through the house and to his bedroom. Their breathing is already altered, their chests heaving in a mix of anticipation, curiosity and nervousness, but also love and care.

Armie turns to face Timothée, his slightly shaky hands pulling on his shirt, which is tossed to the ground, quickly followed by his own shirt. They caress each other´s body, carefully and gently, tracing every freckle and mole, kissing every bit of skin.

They fall to bed with Armie on top, his large hands sliding down Timothée´s legs, parting them further away so he can crawl in between them. Timothée gasps, his head thrown back as he feels Armie´s wet lips trace up his leg, leaving kisses all over it. He bites on his lip, cradles Armie´s face and pulls him closer for a kiss, their naked bodies now pressed against one another, moans escaping them both.

They melt into each other´s touch, whimpers, grunts and giggles echoing through the room, the sweat coating them ever so slowly. A shiver runs through Armie as Timothée´s nails scratch his back and he wraps his legs tightly around his hips, pressing his heels onto his ass and pushing him in closer.

Timothée can barely contain the million emotions that run through him every time Armie´s cock presses against him, or every time their lips connect in yet another heated kiss. He is completely lost in pleasure and love, yet he earns for more and he knows Armie wants the exact same thing.

"Armie," he whimpers, hands framing his face and bringing him closer, their eyes locked.

"Are you..."

"Yes."

Armie nods and captures Timothée in a sweet and loving kiss while he reaches for the nightstand, his hand feeling around until he can finally find what he has been looking for. He leans his forehead against Timothée, eyes attentive to every look and expression he makes while he slicks his fingers and moves them in between their bodies. 

Timothée grips onto his arms, biting hard on his lip as he feels Armie´s finger come in contact with him. He takes in a deep breath, closes his eyes and relaxes his body, gasping as Armie enters him, the sensation so different of everything he has ever felt before. There´s a tingling that goes through his body, a pain that radiates through him, but it doesn´t actually last long, not when Armie´s lips are on his right away, taking his mind off of anything.

Armie moves his finger slowly, trying his best to make sure Timothée isn´t in too much pain. He kisses his lips, his cheeks, his eyes, every freckle in his face, trying to make it all as pleasuring and sweet as he possibly can. When Timothée moans, his body moving along to meet his thrusts, Armie smiles down at him and slowly increases his speed.

They take it slow, neither of them in a rush to do anything, neither of them wanting this moment to end any time soon. Timothée in particular is a whimpering mess when Armie finally pulls his fingers away and reaches for a condom, his whole body burning with desire and the need to have him inside of him. Armie, on the other hand, is doing his best to control his urges, the sight of Timothée completely overtaken by pleasure, squirming around the bed and nearly begging for more, almost too much for him to take.

Timothée takes hold of the condom before Armie can do anything with it, licking his lips while he rolls it onto Armie´s cock, which he gently squeezes, smirking as Armie leans his head against his shoulder and allows a deep and long moan to escape his lips. He strokes him for a moment, nearly making a mess with the lube and chuckling as Armie shakes his head.

He lies back on the bed, adjusting himself as Armie takes in a deep breath and reaches for one of his legs, wrapping it around his hip. His green eyes remain on Armie the entire time, his lips quivering and his body tensing up as he feels the tip of Armie´s cock press against his hole. He takes a deep breath, wraps his arms around Armie´s neck and pulls him down for a kiss, softly biting on his lip when he feels a couple more inches enter him. 

The pain is definitely more intense than before, but even through it, Timothée can already feel his whole body light up. He closes his eyes, feels Armie´s hot breath on his face and gasps as the pain starts to subside and a nearly overwhelming pleasure starts to consume him. His nails dig into Armie´s skin, his teeth bite onto his shoulder, his thighs press against Armie´s sides and he sluggishly starts moving his own hips, earning for some movement from Armie, who remains quiet, waiting for him to take the next step.

Armie moans on Timothée´s ear, gradually starts thrusting forward, pushing almost all of his cock inside. It´s a brand new sensation for Armie, something he has been dreaming of for weeks and he can barely believe it´s actually coming true. He allows his fingers to trace Timothée´s warm skin, his eyes watch him closely and his body screams in sheer pleasure. It almost feels like he is back to his first time, but this time it feels even better than it was, mainly because this time he is doing it with someone he not only deeply cares, but also loves. Maybe more than he loves himself.

It doesn´t take much long for their bodies to find a common rhythm, their thrusts complementary, their moans coming together and sounding almost like echoes of one another. It´s intense in the most delicious way possible, it´s mind blowing and yet sweet and everything one would wish for. In the two months they have known each other, Armie and Timothée have gone through enough to understand each other better than anyone else, which also meant they knew exactly how to drive one another crazy and what would make them feel good. 

Every second that passes, every moan that echoes, every touch they share is a testimony of their love for one another and when Armie feels Timothée´s body tremble and his breathing get caught up, he knows he is close and he does his best to make sure that´s one experience he will never forget. His finger wrap around Timothée´s cock, swiftly stroking him until a loud grunt fills the air and Timothée arches his back, his semen coating not only Armie´s hand, but also his own stomach. 

Armie is about to slow down when Timothée holds tightly onto his ass, forcing him deeper. The look on Timothée´s face, the cum plastered on his stomach and the tightness around his cock is too much for him to bear and within seconds, Armie buries himself fully inside of Timothée, his cock throbbing as he cums into the condom.

Their eyes meet, lazy smiles on their faces and they try to reach for air. Armie tries, but fails to remain hovering on top of Timothée and falls on top of him, chuckles escaping them both. He rolls over to the bed, his arm swiftly reaching for Timothée and bringing his body close. He kisses his hair, smiles wide as Timothée´s hands wrap around his torso and snuggles his head in the crook of his neck, placing a few short kisses there. 

The room goes silent and words are not necessary for them both to know this has been the best night of their lives.


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night continuous and Timothée finally gets his second gift.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 31**

  
  


"Can I just open my eyes?"

Timothée's voice kind of echoes in the quiet night, the cool breeze hitting him as he stands in the yard, arms crossed over his chest and eyes tight shut. He can hear Armie moving around him, the fumble of keys and then the loud and indistinguishable sound of the garage door opening. He bites on his lip, curiosity getting the best of him as he bounces from one foot to the other, his fingers tapping on his arm as he waits for Armie to say something, but the silence remains.

Suddenly he feels a hand on the small of his back and he sighs. Armie's hand is warm even through the fabric of his shirt and makes him feel less chilly, but also instantly brings shivers down his spine. Every day that goes by Timothée thinks he is less affected by Armie, but then little things happen and he realizes that might never happen. And to be fair, after the night they had, he knows every fiber in his being calls out for Armie even more.

"C'mon, let's go inside."

"Can't I open my eyes now?"

"Not yet," he whispers on Timothée's ear, pressing his hand on his back. "Once we're inside you can open it, okay?"

"I really don't like this, Armie."

"We're almost there, Timmy." 

Timothée sighs, but nods his head anyway and takes a step forward. He smiles as Armie places his other hand on his arm and strokes it softly with his thumb, his hot breathing on his ear. He can smell paint the moment he walks in and the smell actually makes him feel at home, closer to Armie somehow.

Armie stops him and Timothée listens quietly as he moves around the garage and pushes some things around. He sighs loudly, hears Armie's chuckle and can't help but do the exact same. It doesn't take much longer for Armie to reach him again, this time placing a quick and soft kiss on his cheek.

"I hope you'll like it," he whispers. "You can open your eyes now."

Timothée blinks a couple of times until his eyes adjust to light in the garage, a gasp escaping him when he sees the painting in front of him. Is a painting of him, soft colors and incredibly realistic, which nearly takes his breath away. He turns to look at Armie for a second, watching as he bites his nails, then turns back to the painting, tears filling his eyes.

"Did you hate it that much?"

"Hate it?" 

The question comes in a whisper as Timothée tries to keep himself from actually crying, even if he knows he is doing a terrible job. He shakes his head, turns to Armie and frames his face in his face while getting on his tiptoes. Timothée kisses him slowly, savoring each second of it, feeling his salty tears slide in between their sweet lips. When he pulls away he is flustered and breathless, but the smile on his lips is bigger than anything. His thumb strokes Armie's cheeks, their eyes locked on one another as if they are looking at each other's soul.

"Armie, that's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen."

"Seriously?"

"You really don't see it, do you?" Armie shrugs and Timothée scoffs, shaking his head as he pulls Armie for a tight hug. "Thank you so much, no one has ever done such a beautiful thing for me before."

"I wish I could do more, Tim."

"Don't, because having you in my life is already so much more than I expected for me. You brought happiness to my life again, Armie, and I will be forever grateful for that."

"You might not believe or see it, but you changed my life too, Tim."

Timothée nods, then turns back to the painting, a wide smile plastered on his face. His eyes wander to every little detail and every splash of paint, in awe at Armie's talent. He goes to touch it, only to retrieve his hand and look back at Armie, who chuckles while nodding. Timothée bites his lip, takes a step closer and let's his finger to run down the canvas, feeling the paint against his skin.

The tears stream down his face once again, his breathing getting caught up on his throat as he stares at the canvas. He closes his eyes as he feels Armie's arms wrap around his waist, leans his head back on his shoulder and lets his hands rest on top of his. When Armie kisses his forehead, he lets out a sigh of contentment and smiles. Timothée has never felt love like he felt today and while a part of him feels that things are just too good to be true, he knows he deserves this and he will appreciate it as much as he can for as long as he can. 

  
  
  


****************

 

The sun is starting to rise, the bright light invading the bedroom through the curtains and creating many different shadows on Timothée´s naked back. His breathing is calm, his lips are curved in tiny little smile as if he´s having the most beautiful dream. Armie lies on his side, head leaned on his hand as he watches Timothée carefully, the smile on his own face impossible to control. His fingers push some of the curls back, allowing him a better look at Timothée´s delicate and still intense features. He loves everything about this boy, he loves his face and body, he loves his personality and how strong he is, even if he can´t actually see it. 

Armie already knew the depth of his feelings for Timothée, that has been something he could notice from the beginning, but it seems like the last day has increased that or at least made it more obvious. Seeing Timothée with his degree, seeing the smile on his face as he stood there with Zac, proud of his own achievement made Armie feel like he had somehow achieved something. Timothée´s happiness was his happiness.

He sighs, leaning back on the bed, his eyes wandering to the ceiling as he reminds himself of the abundance of feelings that had taken him over the last night. He didn´t even manage to sleep after everything that happened, his mind kept wandering back to the way he shivered at Timothée´s touch, to how perfectly their bodies fitted one another. Armie slept with quite a few women, he had great nights and wonderful experiences, but nothing came close to what he felt when he was with Timothée. 

Maybe it was the cliche that everything is better when you´re with someone you love. Or maybe is because when he was inside of Timothée, feeling like they were one single being, Armie actually felt complete.

He takes a quick look at Timothée, who groans and moves to the other side and chuckles, placing a soft kiss on his bare shoulder before he gets up, doing his best not to wake him up. Armie tiptoes around the bedroom, reaching for his t-shirt and puts it on while making his way out. He takes one last look at Timothée before closing the door, a yawn escaping him as he makes it down the hallway and over to the kitchen.

Armie stops abruptly as he sees Jake sitting on top of the counter, biting on an apple as he looks down at his phone. He looks around him for a moment, notices Lois´ bedroom door is slightly open and chuckles, which immediately causes Jake to turn around.

"Good morning," Armie says with a smirk as Jake hops off of the counter.

"Hey, dude."

"Forgot your way home?"

Jake scoffs, scratching the back of his head as Armie walks over to him. He sighs, his eyes wandering around the entire living room before he actually looks Armie in the eyes again. "Look, I..."

"You slept with Lois." Armie leans against the counter, shaking his head as Jake simply nods. "I saw you two dancing last night, you seemed pretty close, but I didn´t expect this to happen."

"To be completely honest, I think a part of her just wants to forget about Steve and since she knows me well, she figured I´d be the best option."

"Lois is not that kind of person, Jake."

"I didn´t mean she is somehow using me, Armie. She was pretty clear that this night didn´t really mean anything deep."

"Sucks for you, since you´re clearly still into her." Armie pats his back while walking past him, opening a few cupboards. "But maybe this is a start, so many people start off with one night stands and end up in a good relationship."

"I don´t think Lois would ever fully trust me again, at least not enough for us to get back together."

"You´re no longer that guy, Jake."

"People never truly change, Armie."

"Maybe, but they grow up and they learn with their mistakes." Armie shrugs, hoping on the kitchen sink. "I am not the same person I was two months ago, I´ve met someone and I learned that I can actually commit myself. I´ve learned that sometimes you can love someone more than you love yourself, and that you would do and risk anything for that person."

"I think you have always been this person, Armie, all Timothée did was help you see it."

"Maybe," he says with a shrug. 

"Which reminds me, you guys left the party quite early."

"Well, we had better things to do."

"Better things to do?" Jake asks, a smirk on his face as Armie nods. "You guys finally did it."

"Yeah."

"And judging by the look in your face, it was pretty damn good, huh?"

"Better than I could have ever expected." Armie can feel his cheeks flush as Jake chuckles. He lets out a breath, shakes his head and hops off of the counter, eyes on Jake. "Now, if you excuse me, I´m gonna make my boyfriend some breakfast."

"Fine, I should go anyway."

"You´re not gonna wait for her to wake up?"

"I don´t know if she wants to see me here when she wakes up, dude. I´ll leave a note, if she feels like talking later, I´m all ears."

"Okay," Armie watches as Jake heads to the bedroom and sighs. He is pretty sure he and Lois still have a lot to go through together, but he doesn´t want to get involved in this in any type of way, their situation is delicate and they should figure things out by themselves. 

He takes a quick look around, reaches for some things on the fridge and starts working on breakfast, stopping only when Jake makes his way out. By the time he is finished, Armie can already hear Lois moving around on her bedroom, but he barely looks to the side, stopping only when he reaches his bedroom door and opens it slowly.

A smile takes over his face when he sees Timothée sitting on the bed, his sleepy eyes wandering to him right away. He closes the door behind him, moves to the bed and slowly sits down, making sure he doesn´t spill anything that´s on the tray. His hand cradles Timothée´s face and pulls him closer, sharing a sweet and short kiss.

"Morning," Timothée whispers, their lips still pressed together.

"Good morning. How are you feeling?"

"Have never been better."

"You know what I mean, Tim."

"I´m great, Armie, ready for another one."

"Well, that´s nice to know. But maybe you´d like breakfast first?"

"That´s probably a good idea."

  
  


****************

 

 **//now_playing//** _If You Could Only See - Tonic_

 

They lie side by side in the bedroom floor, their fingers playing with each other's while the iPod lies in between them and they share the earphones. Timothée blows out the smoke, his head moving from side to side, watching as the simple movement helps create a different pattern. Armie watches with a smirk, takes the joint in between his fingers and takes a long drag, blowing out rings of smoke quickly after it.

He locks eyes with Timothée, who rolls his eyes and chuckles, rolling to his side so he can face him better. Armie moves some hair away from Timothée's face and leans down, placing a quick kiss on his lips. He smiles, licks his lips and allows his finger to trace Timothée's jaw, his eyes wandering through every little freckle he has on his face. 

He's the most beautiful thing Armie has ever seen in his life.

Timothée leans on his elbows, biting on his lips as he watches Armie take another drag. They lean closer to each other and Timothée opens his mouth, inhaling the smoke Armie blows out. He blows it out, chuckling as Armie looks at him with a teasing expression that still makes him shiver. 

He licks his lips, slides a hand behind Armie's neck and pulls him closer, kissing him deeply. He moves closer, a smile coming to his lips as he feels the earphone fall down his ear, but truly he couldn't care less at this point. No music, no matter how great, comes close to the taste of Armie's lips. 

They pull away nearly breathless, flushed faces, heaving chests and wide grins on their faces. They always had this incredible chemistry between them, but after the previous night, it seems more intense than anything else. As they lean closer, about to kiss once more, there's a knock on the door, which makes them both sigh.

"Lois is very good in interrupting," Armie whispers as Timothée laughs, lying back on the ground. "Come in!"

"Hey guys," Lois says while opening the door, leaning against the threshold. "I didn't mean to interrupt, but I am going to lunch with my parents and I might not really come back home today."

"Sleeping at Jake's tonight?" 

Armie smirks as Lois' eyes go wide and Timothée quickly sits up, his confused eyes wandering from Lois to Armie. 

"I saw him this morning, Lois."

"Oh... I didn't know that."

"He looked pretty stoked, you know."

"He should be," she says with a smirk. "And you should shut up."

"Oh c'mon..."

"I'll see you later... or tomorrow. You two behave and try not to make too much noise, I don't want the neighbors to complain."

"Yes, mom." 

Armie smirks and watches as Lois rolls her eyes, slamming the door shut behind her. He shakes his head and then turns back to Timothée, who's looking at him with curious eyes.

"They slept together?"

"Yep. They were pretty close at the party yesterday, but I didn't really expect this to happen."

"I saw them dancing, they looked really cute."

"They are and I know they still have feelings for each other." He smiles, an arm sliding across Timothée's waist. "But tell me, where did we stop?"

"If I remember correctly, you were about to kiss me."

  
  


******************

 

The Sun is about to set in the horizon, the waves crashing on the shore as a couple of people run on the pier, others sit by ice cream parlours and some surfers try to find the right wave. On their little hideout, Timothée and Armie sit down, back against the wall and legs spread out before them. Armie´s fingers play with the holes on Timothée´s jeans, chuckling whenever he giggles or tries to push his hand away.

The silence that so often takes them over feels strangely good for Armie, a reminder that you don´t always need words and big gestures to be happy around someone. His eyes wander to Timothée from time to time, a smile on his face whenever their eyes meet and he frowns, an inquisitive look on his face.

"Stop staring at me like this, it's embarrassing."

"For who?"

"Me obviously."

"Well, it shouldn't be," he leans closer, places a kiss on Timothée´s lips and then sighs, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "Are you excited for your first day of work tomorrow?"

"I am, but at the same time I am a little bit scared."

"Why?"

"To be honest with you, it´s not the job itself that´s scaring me, but life in general."

Armie frowns, turning to his side so he can actually face Timothée. His hand slides down his arm until they are holding hands, Armie´s thumb stroking the palm of Timothée´s hand slowly.

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, but I think that´s what´s scaring me, Armie. After the whole issue with your parents, things have been absolutely great and very calm in my life, but that rarely happens and I think I´m scared that something really bad is about to come."

"I wish you didn´t feel that way, because I don´t know anyone who deserves to be happy more than you do. But I would be lying if I said I don´t get where you´re coming from, because I feel the same way sometimes."

"You do?"

"I´m so happy, Tim, the past two months have been amazing and last night was truly the most magical moment of my life. But at the same time, I simply can´t shake away the thought that something is wrong with my mother."

"I think you should talk to her, Armie."

"I´ve talked to her just two days ago, Tim."

"I know that, but what I mean is that you probably should sit down with her and just directly ask her what is going on." He smiles, squeezing Armie´s hand. "She´s your mother, Armie, and mothers normally don´t want to share their problems with their kids because they feel that´s how they protect them."

"I´m about to turn twenty one, I don´t need her to protect me anymore."

"She´ll always try to protect you, Armie, no matter how old you are. And you said yourself that she has trouble sharing her feelings, but she took a great step on Friday and actually shared some things with you. Maybe she´s taking baby steps, but maybe she also needs the reassurance that you want to be part of her life and understand her better."

"I think you´re right," he says with a sigh, his eyes wandering down to their hands. "What about your mom? She looked very happy yesterday, but I know that might be just for the public eye."

Timothée shrugs. "It´s been a while since we sat down to talk about everything, but even though there´s days like yesterday that I see a sparkle of joy in her, I´m afraid she´s losing the little bit of hope she still had. She´s thirty three, Armie, yet when I do talk to her it feels like she doesn´t see a future for herself anymore. And here I am, trying to be strong for her, trying to make sure she is optimistic but it kills me to see her that way."

Timothée sighs, wipes away the single tear that runs down his cheek and tries to put on a smile, but fails. He looks down at their intertwined hands, feeling the warm touch of Armie´s skin against his and bites on his lip.

"That´s why this job is so important to me, you know? It won´t pay much, but I will make sure I save every little penny I can, because I need to make sure we leave that the moment we leave that house, we are safe and have enough to take care of ourselves."

"Since you mentioned that, there´s something I was meaning to talk to you about."

"What is it?"

"Look, I know you´re not gonna like this, but I´ve made up my mind already, so there´s nothing you can do about it."

"What are you talking about, Armie?"

"This new project I got, it´s gonna pay me quite well, so I want you to take the money and put it on your savings."

"What? No, Armie..."

"Timothée, I´ve got a good home and a decent job, that doesn´t pay much but enough for me to live the life I chose to. This project isn´t that big, but they´re paying me a good amount of money, money I don´t really need it for anything right now, so I might as well do something good with it."

"Armie..."

"I know it´s not easy for you to accept help, I get that, but I promised you I would help and this is the only thing I can think about right now. So please, don´t think of yourself as some charity work, or that I´m doing this because I want anything in return, because I don´t. I´m doing this because I love you and I want you to be safe and happy."

"Are you sure about this, Armie?"

"Yes. This is not something I just came up with, Tim, I´ve been thinking about it since I got the proposal."

"You father is gonna hate me even more when he finds out you´re giving me your money."

"My father can go fuck himself. If he can´t even try to be happy for me, I don´t have to worry about his opinion."

Timothée sighs, his hands sliding to the back of Armie´s neck, pulling him closer to him. "Thank you, Armie. And not just for this, but for everything you´ve done since you met me."

"I´ve done so little, Tim."

"Trust me, you didn´t."

Armie nods, kisses him softly on the lips and then sighs. "Sorry, I didn´t mean to make you cry today."

"You can make it up for it later."

"I will," he whispers while engulfing Timothée in a tight hug, his hand slowly stroking his back as he kisses the top of his head. He feels Timothée´s hands cling onto his shirt while he places a kiss on his shoulder, his whole body going soft against his. 

  
  
  


***************

  
  


Armie parks the car at the corner, his fingers tapping on the steering wheel as his eyes wander to the other side of the street, the large sign taking over most of the entrance. He sighs, a little smile on the corner of his lips as he turns to the passenger seat, where Timothée is sat. 

"You want me to go inside with you?"

"What? Armie, I´m not a child, I can handle my first day of work without you holding my hand."

"And that is even more proof that you have never worked before in your life. It can be quite a stressful and demanding day, you know?"

"I think I have enough experience with stressful situations to handle this, Armie." He winks and turns on his side, his hands framing Armie´s cheeks as he smiles. "Hey, I think it´s really cute that you are this protective of me and you do your best to support me no matter what, but I´m gonna be okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Trust me, okay?"

"I do trust you, it´s the other people I have a problem with."

Timothée chuckles, leaning their foreheads together. "You´re the most amazing boyfriend anyone could ask for, you know?"

"I´m trying," he leans in to kiss Timothée and runs his fingers through his curls, a wide smile on his face as Timothée closes his eyes and lets out a sigh of contentment. "Maybe we could do something after you´re done?"

"That sounds nice."

"Do I pick you up here or at your place?"

"At my place, I wanna check on my mom first."

Armie nods and places yet another kiss on Timothée´s lips. "Okay, maybe we could go grab a pizza or something? Do something a bit different this time."

"Are you tired of going to Jake´s mom´s diner?"

"A little bit?" Timothée chuckles and Armie can´t help but smile wide.

"Are you going to the record store today?"

"Nope, I got the day off and I´ll start working on the new project. It´s a lot of work, so I will do my best to outline the drawings today, both inside and outside the shop."

"You´ll do great."

"I sure hope so."

"I think it´s time for you to accept the fact you´re a true artist, Armie, when you´re on the street and when you´re on your garage, working on your canvas."

"I really don´t think we have time to start a therapy session, babe. We both have to go to work and if I start thinking about this, I might breakdown."

"Okay, we can talk about it tonight."

"Maybe."

"Okay, keep to yourself then." Armie shrugs and Timothée rolls his eyes, pulling him in closer for another kiss, this time longer. "I love you."

"I love you too, Tim."

"See you tonight."

"See ya," Armie smiles, watching as Timothée hops off of the car and runs across the street, holding tight onto his backpack. He chuckles as Timothée turns to him, winks and then laughs, rushing inside the supermarket. Leaned against the seat, Armie smiles to himself, a happiness he has never felt before has invaded him during the weekend and he hopes it stays that way for good.


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth is out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You wondered how this meeting would go, time to see it for yourselves.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 32**

  
  


**//now_playing//** _ Breaking The Habit - Linkin Park _

 

Armie has his headphones on, his eyes attentive to the thin lines he traces on the white wall, bringing to life one big drawing that fills the entire lot. He was aware of the difficulty of getting involved in such a job, but the opportunity to have his art on a big coffee shop, that would be visited by thousands of people did make the choice a little bit easier. While graffiting in the streets is his big passion, he knows that doesn´t really bring any money and if he can mix that with art that he actually gets paid for and the work at the record store, he might be able to save some money and find a place for his own on the future. 

Not that life with Lois is bad, and if he is being honest the thought of moving out of her house is something new, but Armie knows that with his relationship with Timothée growing, he might want more privacy and since they can´t really have that at Timothée´s place, he might take matters in his own hands. It would be really nice not to have to worry about locked doors every time they were in the bedroom, or getting interrupted every ten minutes. 

"You´re such a loser, Hammer," he mumbles to himself as he stops the music and steps down on the ladder. 

Two months ago he didn´t even think about dating someone, now he wants his own place so he can date in peace. How quickly things can change.

With a smile, he lets his eyes wander around the empty store, the outline for his painting already done, and it looks pretty damn good too. He takes his phone out, snaps a picture of the wall and sends it to Timothée, a smirk on his face as he types out the message to go along with. Armie looks at his work once more, tucking the phone back in his pocket, grabs his things and stuffs them inside his backpack, swinging over his shoulder on his way out. 

He makes sure there´s no open windows, locks the door behind him and hops on Lois´ car, a sigh escaping him as he finally rests his back on the seat. He hears his phone and reaches for it on his back pocket, a smile on his face once again as he sees Timothée´s message.

 

**< timmy>** _ r u gonna be staring at ur own work or u coming to pick me up? _

_..... _

_..... _

_ it does look gr8 tho _

_ u r amazing _

 

**< armie> ** _ ive stopped staring _

_ but can i please make a quick stop home _

_ i need a shower _

 

 **< timmy>** _the last thing i want is a smelly bf_

 

 **< armie>** _so my smell is not a kink of urs?_

 

 **< timmy>** _ur natural smell?_

_ sure _

_ but after a whole day of work? _

_ ill pass dude _

_ ;) _

 

**< armie> ** _ nice to know.... _

_ ill be there in half hour _

_ promise u _

 

**< timmy>** _ i have all night _

_ ;) _

_ :* _

 

*****************

 

Timothée takes a look at himself in the mirror, his fingers running through his curls as a smile appears on the corner of his lips. His first day of work was tiring and he had to ask around for a lot of information, but thankfully, Maxence, the guy designed to help him through the first few days, was nice and pretty patient with him, which made things a lot easier and fun to deal with. Throughout the whole day, he had this sense of pride building up inside of him and he couldn´t help but smile, even when things were a bit confusing. As much life with his father around wasn´t the ideal, he was starting to realize that the last two months had been a lot brighter than he gave credit for. He got his dream, which was rebuilt the skate park and now they were days away from finishing the painting, which Jake and Mark were taking care of; he found someone he loved and cared about, he got new friends and he got a job, which came with the hope of finally being able to provide his mother a safer place to live.

He hears her voice on the living room and snaps out of his thoughts, poking his head out of the bathroom so he can listen to her better. It doesn´t take him more than a second to notice she is actually talking to someone at the door, and judging by the cheerful sound of her voice, he knows exactly who it is. He takes one more look at himself, walks out of the bathroom and down the hall, leaning against the wall with a smirk on his face as he watches Armie and Eleanor talking to each other.

Armie´s eyes catch him standing there and a bright smile appears on his face, which causes Eleanor to look it over her shoulder, a knowing look in her eyes. Armie squeezes her arm, gives her a wink and then walks over to Timothée, his hands instantly sliding across his slim waist and pulling him closer to his body.

"Hi."

"Hi, I thought you´ve forgotten about me."

"I could never," Armie whispers before leaning in to kiss his lips. "How was work?"

"Quite good, actually."

"That´s great, I wanna hear everything about it." He tucks a few strands of hair behind Timothée´s ear and cocks his head to the side, an eyebrow arched. "Ready to go?"

"Almost, I´m just gonna go grab a t-shirt."

"I´ll join you," he winks, following Timothée down the hallway and over to his bedroom. He kicks the door close while pulling Timothée back to him and crowding him against the wall, their lips connected only seconds later.

Timothée moans softly, his hands sneaking inside Armie´s shirt, feeling his stomach and his chest. He pulls on his bottom lip, smirks at the little whimper that escapes Armie, the sound alone making his whole body tremble.

"We shouldn´t be doing this," Armie whispers on Timothée´s ear, his hands sliding down to his ass, which he squeezes softly while pushing their groins closer together.

"You started."

"You´re not really stopping me."

"As if I had the strength for that."

"Good to know."

"Shut up," Timothée whispers while pulling Armie back for a kiss, his arms wrapping around his neck.

  
  
  


*************

  
  


The front door opens slowly, his feet stumbling around the place until he can actually manage to walk in. He stops by the door, back leaned against it as he takes deep breaths and looks around the house, which is silent apart from the low giggles that come from the end of the hallway. He rolls his eyes, tosses his keys to the side and drags himself down the hallway, his fingers tracing the wall as he does so.

He stops when he notices a second voice, arches an eyebrow and leans against the wall, listening quietly as the voices are interrupted by chuckles and kissing sounds. He takes a step further, peeking through the half-closed door, his eyes turn darker immediately, his veins pop-up and his whole face -and neck- turn bright red. He's furious, his hands nearly shaking from all the anger he has boiling up inside of him as he kicks the door open, his loud voice echoing through the entire house.

"What the fuck do you think you´re doing?!" His eyes lock on Timothée´s, who backed up further into the room, his green eyes wide and his lips quivering. "Is this what you do when I am not around? Is this what you mother taught you?"

Timothée and Armie remain in silence, their eyes widen, their hands shaking. Timothée stands in front of Armie, pushing back until they are almost backed against the opposite wall. He wants as much distance from Matthew as he can get.

"I should have known you were a little fag," his eyes are full of rage, his voice loud and piercing. "Someone like you could be nothing other than a cocksucker."

Timothée closes his eyes and takes on a deep breath, trying to remain as calm as possible, but knowing there´s no way this situation can end well.

"You truly are a little piece of shit, aren´t you?! But you are not gonna do this at my house, you little bitch."

"Shut up," he finally says, feeling Armie´s hand on his back. 

"You don´t get to tell me when to shut up, you faggot. I won´t admit people like you in my house."

"I´m no different than you."

"You´re nothing like me, fag. You´re a little cocksucker and you´re gonna do your nasty things far away from me, do you get that?!" He takes a step closer to them, his hands turning into fists, a smirk on his face as he watches Timothée squirm already. "You don´t look so tough now, Timmy, are you scared? Where are the people you said would protect you, huh? Is this guy who you think will protect you? Or is that nigga you used to bring here?! Did you used to suck his cock too?!"

"Shut the fuck up," Armie finally says while stepping in front of Timothée, his arm protecting him from moving any further. He feels Timothée´s hand in his arm, trying to pull him back, but he yanks his arm away, his blue eyes locked on Matthew´s. 

"Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"You´re not gonna talk to him like this anymore."

"Oh, am I offending him? Fuck you and fuck this little faggot who thinks he can bring anyone to my house and not face the consequences. People like you two should die, slowly and painfully."

Matthew moves closer, trying to grab onto Timothée´s arm, but Armie pushes him back, his breathing heavily and his eyes burning with anger. Matthew laughs, a loud and sarcastic laugh that echoes through the house; he wraps a hand around Armie´s throat, squeezing it as he slams him against the wall.

"You think you´re tough, boy? You think you´re gonna talk to me like this and walk away? You don´t know me, boy."

"Fuck off, asshole," Armie says between gasps.

"Let him go, dad."

"Shut up!"

"Please, let him go!"

"I said, shut the fuck up," Matthew screams while turning to face Timothée, who squirms. "Your boyfriend is a bit tougher than you Timmy, seems like you didn´t learn much from him though."

The mocking tone of Matthew makes Armie even angrier, the way he looks at Timothée is disgusting and he tries his best to get out of his grip, but as it gets harder to breathe it also gets harder to do any kind of movement. He tries to kick him, to punch him, but his position is not good enough for any of those moves to have any impact.

"Dad, please, stop."

Tears stream down Timothée´s face as he watches the scene unfold in front of him, desperation taking him over as Armie clearly struggles to breath. He looks around the room for anything he can use to help him, but he doesn´t have anything heavy enough and his skate is nowhere to be seen. Unsure of what else to do, he launches himself on Matthew, grabbing onto his arm and pulling him backwards.

"Let go of me, faggot."

"Stop hurting him!"

"Fuck you," he screams and pushes Timothée away from him, which causes him to stumble back and fall on his bed. 

Armie watches the scene with anger filled eyes and the moment he can manage to get away from Matthew´s grip, he pushes him back and punches him in the face. Adrenaline rushes through his body and he launches himself on Matthew, pinning him against the wall.

"Try touching him again and I will personally kill you, do you hear me?"

Matthew laughs hysterically, cleaning the blood from his nose as he shakes his head. "Don´t make promises you can´t keep, pretty boy."

"You´re disgusting."

"Says the cocksucker... oh wait, he is the one sucking your cock, isn´t it?"

"You don´t deserve a son like him." Armie says while helping Timothée up, his eyes wandering to the door, where now Eleanor stands with wide eyes, the bags she had on her hands now on the floor. "I´m sorry, Mrs. Chalamet."

He looks back at Timothée who remains quiet by his side, his eyes filled with tears and his whole body shaking from head to toe. Armie wraps an arm around his shoulder, bringing him closer to him and places a soft kiss on his temple.

"Let´s go home."

Timothée nods, gripping onto Armie´s shirt as they make their way out of the bedroom and past Eleanor, who remains in place, a shocked look upon her face.

"You better never step inside this house again, faggot."

Timothée takes one last look at his father, shakes his head and then buries his face on Armie´s chest, following him down the hallway and out of the house.

  
  
  


**************

 

Any plans of going out have now become a distant thought and the ride back to Armie´s house is quiet and tense. Once Armie parks outside, they both remain seated for a moment, eyes down as they try to wrap their head around what happened just a couple of minutes ago. Timothée is the one who hops out of the car first, standing awkwardly by the front door as he waits for Armie to lock the car and join him. 

The minute the door is open, he walks in and goes straight to the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of water, which he drinks it in one go. He leans against the counter, his head down as he sighs; frustration and anger are building up more and more inside of him and yet he doesn´t know what to do to make it better. 

He can feel Armie approach him, his hand rest on top of his while the other strokes his back and his touch is soothing, but also makes him feel even more guilty than he already is. Timothée takes on a deep breath, closes his eyes for a moment and then looks up at Armie, tears already filling his eyes.

"I can´t do this anymore, Armie."

"And you don´t have to, Tim, you can stay here for as long as you want and..."

"That´s not what I am talking about, Armie."

"What are you talking about, then?"

"You deserve someone who brings you joy, Armie, someone who you can spend your free time with and not have to worry about abusive fathers or any other kind of drama."

"Timothée..."

"You are such a great person, you deserve the world, Armie."

"You can´t be serious right now, Tim." He shrugs and Armie rolls his eyes. "If you said you don´t like me as much as you thought you did, maybe I would get over it. But I won´t accept you breaking up with me because your father is an asshole. I didn´t gave up on you because of what my dad thinks, don´t give up on me because of yours."

"It´s different, Armie, and you know it. Your father is not abusive, your father didn´t physically hurt me in any way, but my father is dangerous and you don´t deserve to be dragged into our mess."

"Timothée, we love each other, right?"

"Right."

"And we wanna be together," he says while Timothée nods. "So fuck everyone else, my father, your father and anyone else who tries to tells us what to do and who to be with. You can try, but I´m not gonna let you break up with me...not because of him."

"It´s for your own good, Armie."

"I´m not having it."

"Fuck, you´re stubborn."

Armie chuckles, nodding his head as he takes Timothée in his arms, hugging him as tight as he possibly can. He kisses the top of his head, a small smile appearing on his lips as Timothée takes a fistful of his shirt and buries his face in the crook of his neck, his sobs filling the air.

"I´m sorry he hurt you."

"You don´t have to be sorry, Tim."

"Are you okay? How´s your throat?"

Armie lifts his chin, wipes away his tears and leans their foreheads together, trying his best to put on a smile. "I´m alright, it wasn´t that serious."

"There was a moment you could hardly breathe, Armie."

"It´s all gone, you don´t have to worry about me." Timothée shakes his head, hugging him again as Armie sighs, knotting his fingers on his curls. "Clearly there´s no mood for going out, but you must be starving, maybe we can order some food and while we wait I´ll make us some tea and you can calm down a little bit. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah, it does."

"What do you want to eat?"

"I´ll have whatever you´re having."

Armie chuckles and kisses him softly on the lips, his fingers tucking a couple curls behind his ear. He watches as Timothée wipes away his tears and then walks towards the bathroom, locking the door behind him. Armie sighs, leaning himself against the counter as his hand reaches for his neck, rubbing it softly as he tries to push back the stinging feeling that radiates through his throat. 

It takes him a couple of seconds, but he finally pushes himself away from the counter, puts some water into a kettle and turns on the stove, going through some menus as he waits for the water to boil. His eyes wander to the bathroom door from time to time, fear starting to build up inside of him as Timothée takes a lot longer than usual. He looks at the kettle, then back at the menus and as he is about to walk towards the bathroom, the door opens and Timothée emerges from it, a smile on his face but sadness in his eyes.

Timothée takes a seat on the couch, wrapping his arms around his legs and leans his chin on his knees, his eyes down as he goes through everything that happened. He has been scared before, but never in his life has he felt as much fear as when he saw his father´s hand wrapped around Armie´s throat, squeezing it merciless.

As usual, whenever he thinks his life is going in the right direction, something happens to bring him back to reality and make him see nothing good lasts forever.

He looks up when he feels the couch move, Armie´s eyes staring at him while he hands him a mug. He takes it in his hands, brings his legs back down and moves so he is closer to Armie, his head leaned against his shoulder. He takes a sip of the tea, the warmth of it soothing him almost as much as Armie´s fingers stroking his legs does.

  
  
  


****************

  
  


Armie pulls the sheets on top of Timothée, his finger carefully pushing curls out of his face as he smiles down at him, happy that he has finally calmed down enough to get some sleep. He sighs, rubs his eyes and makes it out of the bedroom, dragging himself through the hallway and over to the kitchen. He looks over his shoulder as the front door opens, waves at Lois and reaches for a bottle of water, taking a seat on the counter as he takes a few sips of it.

"You okay?"

"Not really, it was a weird day."

"You wanna talk?" She asks while hopping on the stool across from him. "Is something wrong between you and Tim?"

"No, we´re fine," he shakes his head. "I mean, I think we are."

"What happened, Armie?"

"For the last two months I´ve heard Timothée talk about his dad and I´ve seen the consequences of his abuse, which is already something terrible. But today, I actually saw what that man is capable of and it was the most sickening thing I have ever seen in my life."

"He hit him and you were there?"

"He didn´t hit him, but he found out about us and snapped. He went to punch Timothée, or whatever he intended to do, but I got in the way."

"Did he do something to you, Armie?"

"He slammed me against the wall and tried to strangle me."

"What?!" Lois gets up, rushing to Armie´s side, her hands immediately going to his neck. "Are you okay? Have you gone to the doctor? Is anything..."

"It wasn´t that serious, Lois. But it was a wake up call to what truly goes on inside that house, to how that can mess up with someone´s head."

"I´ve respected Timothée´s decision that time, I kept myself quiet about it, but this has gone too far, Armie. Timothée and his mother need to report him to the police, they can´t allow this man to keep doing this to them. If they go to the police, they will help them and find an easy and safe way for them to deal with the whole thing."

"Will they?" Armie shrugs. "Mrs. Chalamet has reported on him once, the police went by her house and Timothée´s father was sober, talked to the police for over an hour and by the end of this conversation he was simply the husband who was trying to control his hysterical wife."

"Okay, it didn´t work the first time, but she has to try again."

"I agree with you, I know he has to be reported, but now I can easily see why Mrs. Chalamet doesn´t do anything."

"Armie..."

"He has threatened to kill Timothée if she says anything to anyone, Lois. And I will be honest with you, it crushed me when Tim told me that, but I never understood the depth of his mother´s fear. But today I truly do, because the look on that man´s face, the way he stared at me and Timmy? He is capable of anything, Lois."

"So what do we do? He can´t stay there forever, praying that one day he will make it out. There has to be a plan, there has to be something we can do to rush things."

Armie sighs and shakes his head, but suddenly stops, his eyes distant as he bites on his lip.

"I know that face, what are you thinking?"

"There might be someone who can actually help us."

"Who?"

"My mother."


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sadly for Armie, things don´t go as expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really need to work on my answering comments game, but know that I have read them all and I share your fear/anticipation for the future of these two. Is a bumpy road they have ahead of them, there are so many things they need to solve, but their love is strong. ;)

**Venice Ink**

**Part 33**

  
  


Timothée sits down on a stool, his hands resting on his thighs as his eyes remain looked on the painting in front of him. He has said thank you many times, he has expressed how beautiful he thought the painting was, but he's sure that he will never be able to find words that will ever make it justice. Armie has been able to convey so much emotion on that canvas, adding all the hope, love, fear and insecurity he has inside of him. 

He sighs, his finger moving to trace the painting, the movement somehow soothing. He's been awake for over an hour now, and although he tried to stay in bed, with Armie's arms tightly wrapped around him, he felt uneasy and agitated, so he got up, wandered around the house and before he could unintentionally wake up Armie or Lois, made his way to the garage. Weirdly enough, it worked.

Footsteps catch his attention, his hand drops back to his thigh and he looks over his shoulder, the door opening to reveal Armie. He has a t-shirt on and two mugs on his hand, his eyes are still sleepy and the stubble on his face is growing rapidly. He is actually quite beautiful when he is like this and Timothée can't help but smile.

"I looked for you everywhere."

"I didn't want to wake you up, so I came here."

Armie nods, handing him one of the mugs. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I am. At least until I remember what happened yesterday."

"Hey, don't hold onto that, okay? We can put it in the past."

"No, we can´t. Armie, I know it's not what you want to hear, but I've gotten used to being his punching bag. I hate it, I am scared every single time he comes near me, but I've gotten used to the feeling. But watching him do that to you, that was the most terrifying moment of my entire life and I don't want to go through that again, I don't want to be the reason why you are in danger."

"What happened yesterday was not your fault, Timothée. Maybe we should have been more careful, but your father is the only one to blame here."

"I know I am not responsible for his actions, but the only reason why that even happened to you is because you went there to see me. I can't live with the idea of you being hurt because of me, Armie."

"Timothée, I'm okay."

Timothée sighs, places the mug down on a bench nearby and stands up, taking a couple steps closer to Armie, who eyes him up and down. He bites on his lip, closes his eyes for a second and tries to take a couple of deep breaths. He hates this situation, he hates feeling powerless, but he hates the thought of Armie getting hurt because of him even more and if he has to make drastic choices to keep him safe, he will.

"Armie, you're the best thing that has ever happened to me and it hurts me to even think about this, but maybe we should just break up."

"Oh, not this shit again."

"C'mon, hear me out. Being with me is putting your life at risk, and as much as we care and love each other, I can't live with the fear of being the reason you're in pain."

"And you think I won't be in pain if we break up?"

"A very different kind of pain, Armie, let's be realistic."

Armie shakes his head, closes the gap in between them and takes Timothée's hand in his. He leans their foreheads together, laces their fingers and sighs, the pain in Timothée's eyes too much for him to bear.

"You can't let your father dictate your life to the point where you push back any happiness that comes your way, Tim. A lot of people would have bailed on you the moment they found out the truth, because let's be honest, it's not an easy burden to carry, but I'm not like that. I promised I would be by your side and I will do that, whether you like it or not. So if you want to break up with me, do it, but that doesn't mean I will in fact distance myself from you."

"Why you're making this so hard?"

"I'm only being honest with you, Tim. I've never even thought I would be able to feel the things I feel for you, so you can't simply expect me to let go and move on with my life as if you were not the most important thing in it."

Timothée sighs, a couple of tears streaming down his cheeks. "I don't wanna break up with you."

"Then don't do it, Tim, we can face this together."

"I just don't want you to suffer."

"Sadly we don't really have control over that," Armie says with a shrug. "But we can surround ourselves with people that makes us feel better even when we're on our lowest, and you are that person to me."

"Fuck you," Timothée says with a chuckle as Armie smirks. 

"I'll take that as a confirmation that we are not breaking up?"

"No, we're not."

"Good," he says while pulling Timothée in for a tight hug, a smile on his face as he feels him bury his face in the crook of his neck. 

"Thank you for putting up with my shit, I know it's not easy."

"I'll always be here."

Timothée nods, a little smile on his face as he looks up at Armie. He leans in to kiss him, his arms wrapping around his neck as he feels his body relax. Armie's warmth is always the best medicine.

"Wanna have lunch with me today? My break is short, but I think we can manage something."

"A minute ago he wanted to break up with me, now he wants to have lunch."

"Shut up."

"I would love to," Armie says between chuckles, although there's some seriousness in his eyes. "But I'm going to have lunch with my mom today."

"Your mom?"

"She called yesterday and said she wanted to see me, so we're having lunch together."

"Okay, then maybe we can do something after work."

"You leave at three, right?" 

"Yep."

"I'll pick you up then, is that okay?"

"Perfect."

  
  


****************

  
  


"Can you please help me?"

The voice startles Timothée as he stacks a couple of water bottles on the fridge, but he quickly turns around, a welcoming smile to the old lady that stands there clearly confused. 

"Of course, what can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for lamps, but I can't find them anywhere."

"Lamps," he mumbles to himself, trying to remember the things he was told yesterday by Maxence. "They are on aisle four, but if you want I can take you there."

"Oh that would be great, thank you very much."

"No problem," he smiles and offers his arm for her to lean her hand in while they walk through the supermarket. By the time they make it to the aisle, Timothée makes sure to show her all the varieties of lamps and does his best to explain which one would be best for her particular case. "....but I think this one would be the best for you, Mrs."

"Timothée!?" The voice causes both Timothée and the old lady to turn around, their eyes falling on the twenty year old boy that stands at the end of the aisle. "You can get your break now."

"Thanks, Max," he says with a nod before turning back to the lady. "Is there anything else I can help you with? 

"Oh no, that will be all. Thank you, you've been really thoughtful."

Timothée simply smiles and nods, turning around as soon as the lady walks away from him. He quickly walks to the back of the supermarket and to the staff room, reaching for his backpack and phone as soon as he is inside. He sighs, throwing himself down in one of the couches, his fingers quickly typing a message for Armie, while also trying to unwrap his sandwich.

"You know most people sit down at the cafeteria and have lunch together, right?" Maxence asks as he leans on the wall, a frown upon his face, but a small smile on his lips.

"I noticed, but I think I need some time alone today."

"You alright? Everyone treating you okay?"

"Oh yeah, everyone's been good, Max. I just have a lot in my head today, so I thought sitting here would be best for me. Besides, I'm trying to talk to my boyfriend and it's better if I do somewhere quiet."

"Your boyfriend?"

Timothée's head shoots up, his eyes locked on Maxence as he nods. He watches the guy sigh and bites on his lip, suddenly worried that this could cause any problems for him. 

"Is the fact I have a boyfriend a problem?"

"Not to me," he says while throwing himself beside Timothée on the couch. "Some of the bosses might not be as chill though, so maybe..."

"Maybe I should keep myself quiet about it."

“Look, I know it's not a cool thing to do, we should all be able to go out with whoever the hell we want, but trust me when I say it might be better for you not to say anything right now.”

Timothée nods, looking at Maxence with a curious expression. The tone in his voice, the way he is saying things, it seems like he might understand the situation a lot more than Timothée could have expected. 

“You can just ask, you know?”

Timothée chuckles, his cheeks turning a bright pink. “Sorry, I didn't mean…”

“It's okay. But yes, I'm gay and had to keep it to myself for a long time. Actually, a lot of people here still don't know it and probably think I'm the typical ladies man.”

“You did it to keep the job?”

“Yes, but also because it really isn´t none of their business.”

Timothée laughs, nodding his head just as his phone starts ringing. He looks down at it, a wide smile showing up on his face as he sees Armie´s name on the small screen.

"I'm guessing it's him?" Maxence asks with a smirk as Timothée nods. "I'll leave you alone, join us back at the cafeteria if you change your mind."

"Okay," he waits until Maxence makes it out of the door to answer the phone, putting his feet up the couch. "Hey, are you with your mom already?"

  
  


**************

  
  


Armie bounces from one foot to the other, his eyes down as he waits for the door to open. His hands are kind of shaky, his heart is pounding inside his chest and his throat is dry; it´s not that he is scared of talking to his mother, because even though things don't always end up going in the right direction, he more or less knows what to expect. Most of his fear and apprehension comes from the fact that he will have to betray Timothée´s trust for this to work, he will have to tell his mother why he needs her help, why only one of her lawyers might be able to get Timothée and his mother out of this messy situation.

But he fears how Timothée will take this, how he will react once he finds out he did this behind his back. He knows he is doing the right thing, looking for help and getting the best people he can manage to take care of this situation, but he knows Timothée and he knows it might take him a while to forgive him once he finds out the truth. But even if he is scared, Armie knows that if this gets Timothée to a safe place, everything will be worth it.

The door opens and his head shots up, kind eyes and a small smile as he sees Adelaide standing there. She steps closer to him, wraps her arms tightly around him as he buries his face in the crook of her neck, the feeling so familiar. She pulls away to look at him, her hands framing his face before placing a soft kiss on his forehead.

"I was so happy when your mother told me you were coming for lunch, Armie. After what happened the other night, I thought I would never see you again."

"Believe me, it´s harder and harder to step inside this house again."

"I can understand that, sweetie, but I´m happy you´re trying. Your mother has been so much better ever since you two started talking more often, she smiles more and she ́s definitely more hopeful for the future."

Armie frowns, Adelaide´s words seeming a little weird. Sure, he understands his mother would be feeling better now that they are rebuilding their relationship, but there´s something about the way she said it that makes things a little bit odd. He shrugs the thought off though, focused on what he came here to do.

"Where is she, by the way?"

"At the dining room, she insisted that she would be the one setting the table today. I guess she wants to make something special for you."

"It´s just lunch."

"Not for her, Armie."

"I guess so," he says with a shrug. "Can I come in?"

"Why are you even asking? This is your house, Armie."

His house. He scoffs as he follows Adelaide inside, his eyes roaming around the front hall. Even before he left, that house didn´t feel like his at all.

"I have to go back to the kitchen and make sure everything is ready, you go ahead."

"Thanks," he kisses her cheek, winks and then heads down the large corridor until the living room. He stands there for a moment, taking in a deep breath before he turns to the right, watching as his mother stands by the dining room table, meticulously fixing the silverware.

"You do know this is just a normal lunch, right?"

Julia turns around, a wide smile on her face as she sees Armie standing there. She walks over to him, her hands instantly moving to his shoulder, bringing him into a tight hug.

"I´m so happy you called, you have no idea."

"I hope you didn´t have any plans."

"Oh no, it´s okay."

"Good, cuz this might take a while."

Julia frowns, her hands sliding down Armie´s arms until she is holding his hands. "Should I be scared? You sounded worried on the phone and now you´re saying this, I can´t help but think something bad is happening."

"It is, but not to me."

"I don´t get it."

"This is not about me, mom, this conversation is about Tim."

"Is he okay?"

"He is for now."

The way Armie´s voice alters as he says those words are very clear for Julia and the worry in her eyes is instant. She might not know Timothée very well, but she can tell Armie cares a lot about him and if she can do anything to help him, she will do it.

"Why don´t we sit down and you can tell me what´s going on, is that okay?" Armie nods and Julia smiles, pulling him with her to the dining table, where they sit beside each other. "What is going on? Why you´re so worried that you came to me for help?"

"You might have noticed that Tim wasn´t very keen on talking about his parents that night we came here."

"Yes I did, but I thought he was just a bit shy. It was the first time he saw me and after hearing about our relationship, he was probably a little worried."

"We were both worried about that, but that was not the reason." He sighs, rubbing his forehead as he tries to figure out the best way to start this conversation. "Mom, Timothée´s father is an..."

Armie stops when he hears the front door slam close, his eyes wandering back to his mother, who sighs and shakes her head. He stays quiet, hearing the footsteps until Viktor shows up in the living room. It takes him a moment to realize Armie and his mother are sitting at the dining table, but the moment he does, Armie can see an expression of anger.

"What the fuck is he doing here?"

"He is your brother, Viktor, this is his house too."

"His house?" He mocks while walking towards them. "He hasn´t been in his house for years and now he thinks he can come back and we´ll all take him with open arms?"

"Well, that´s what you should be doing."

"Sorry, mom, I´m not an idiot like you."

"Don´t talk to her like that."

"Sure, because now you care about her."

"I´ve always cared about her and everyone else in this house, Viktor." Armie gets up, fed up with Viktor´s attitude, the way he looks at him and the way he treats their mother. "I´m sorry if you can´t see that."

"Stop playing the good guy, because I know you´re not. You don´t care about anyone besides yourself, Armie, you never did. You always do things to get your way, screw everyone else."

"Viktor, stop talking to him like this."

"No! I´m tired of everyone pretending that what he did is okay, that he didn´t break this family apart. You know he did, you know damn well that he is the reason why you´re always so miserable, why dad did the things he did."

"Viktor, please..."

Armie frowns, "I have no idea of what you´re talking about, Vik."

"Of course you don´t, you didn´t give a fuck about us after you left. You wanted your freedom, you fought for it and while doing so you left our mom broken, but you didn´t even dare to look. You ignored our calls, you didn´t show up unless she begged you, you acted like we were some kind of cancer. Everything that is wrong in this family is your fault, Armie."

"Viktor, stop doing this."

"Stop being so goddamn soft on him, admit that he is the reason why you have to go to a fucking shrink every single day for the past three years of your life. He destroyed your self-esteem, which caused dad to distance himself from us so much that he decided to leave us for his twenty two year old secretary."

"Viktor, this is not the time."

"Oh, this is the perfect time."

Armie sighs, taking a step back as he tries to wrap his head around everything he just heard. "Dad is leaving you?"

"Oh, you´re surprised? Maybe if you had maintained any reasonable contact with us you wouldn´t be."

He shakes his head, tears forming on his eyes. "It´s not my fault that dad did this to mom, Viktor. I can´t be responsible for his acts."

"You brought this family to pieces, Armie, this is all your fault."

"I was only doing what was best for me."

"And screw everyone else."

"No, that´s not true."

"Admit it, Armie, you didn´t think of anyone else when you left. You got what you wanted, your new adventure and you walked through that door without even looking back. I wasn´t home when you left, you remember that? I was at school and when I got home, I ran straight into your room, but you were not there anymore. I was only thirteen and not only had I lost my brother, but I suddenly had all the pressure you couldn´t bare, on my shoulders. If you couldn´t handle it, what made you think I could?"

"You never said anything to me, Vik, you always enjoyed the stories about dad´s work, you always loved to go to the company. You said yourself you loved your life, your house, that fancy school and..."

"I was thirteen, what the fuck did you expect from me?!"

"Vik, I´m sorry, I never..."

"You never cared, you never stopped to think about anyone else and that´s why you left. Your family was ruined? Fuck them, you had your brand new life in Venice Beach, hanging out with stoners, fucking every girl who dared to look at your direction, working on your stupid art. We meant nothing to you back then, but now you´re suddenly back into our lives, demanding a treatment that you´re not gonna get."

"I´m not demanding anything."

"But you are after something, aren´t you?" Viktor stares at Armie, waits for an answer and scoffs when he remains quiet. "What did he ask for, mom? Money? A new car? A house?"

"Viktor, he is not asking for anything."

"Wow, you really think I´m stupid." He rolls his eyes, taking a couple steps closer to Armie. "Where´s your boyfriend, by the way? Or did he take my advice and broke up with you already?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

Viktor laughs, a mocking look on his eyes. "He didn´t tell you, did he? Of course not, poor boy was so fucked up."

"What did you do to him?" Armie launches himself on top of Viktor, grabbing onto his shirt as his brother laughs. "What did you do?"

"Guys, please stop."

"I simply told him the truth," he says with a smirk. "That he was your brand new adventure, but that just like every other one, you would soon get bored and leave him behind."

"You´re sick, you know that?"

"Maybe I am, but that´s something else to the list of things you caused."

"Stop blaming me for your problems."

"C´mon, Armie, deep down you know I am right. You are selfish, you have always been and you´ll always be. The sooner you admit, the easier it will get. Of course that won´t change the damage you already made to everyone´s lives."

"Do you really hate me that much?"

"I do and I´m pretty sure the moment you stop to look at yourself in the mirror and evaluate the things you´ve done, you´ll hate yourself too." He pushes Armie back, fixes his shirt and then looks at Julia, who´s sobbing by the corner. "Think twice before letting him into our lives again, because I swear to God, I won´t be here to mend the pieces."

Viktor looks at Armie once more and shakes his head, before walking away from him and running up the stairs, not even looking back. Armie tries to breathe properly, but he can´t, his head spinning and his heart racing more than ever before. He looks over at his mother, who is clearly in no condition to talk right now and shakes his head, trying to figure out what to do.

He turns around as he feels a hand on his shoulder and nearly breaks down as Adelaide stands there, a reassuring look on her face. "Go, I´ll take care of her."

Armie tries to speak, but the words simply don´t come out, so he just nods. Lightheaded and confused, he drags himself down the hallway and over to the front door, his shaky hands struggling to turn on the knob. By the time he is back at his car, it doesn´t take more than a minute for Armie to break down completely, his sobs loud as his tears stream down his face. He leans his head against the steering wheel, tries to recover his breathing, but it's all worthless, right now he can´t function.

  
  
  


****************

  
  


It's nearly four thirty in the afternoon, the Sun is still high in the sky and the intense summer weather seems to have driven everyone to the beach, leaving the streets quiet and empty. Near the supermarket, Timothée sits on the curb, his head down, feet playing with a couple of pebbles while he holds tightly onto his cellphone, praying that he will get any information on Armie. He has called, texted and left countless voicemails, but so far all he got in return was silence. And silence was starting to make him feel hopeless.

Of course a part of him kind of predicted that this lunch could go wrong, after all, despite their efforts to try and rebuild their relationship, it was clear Armie and his mother still had a lot to sort it out. But this complete silence wasn't something common from Armie,or at least not something Timothée was used to. When they were going through a tough time, it was him that went into silence while Armie tried to contact him. Funny enough, he made it Armie go through that for three whole days and he can barely handle two hours.

He feels his phone vibrate and quickly looks down at it, rolling his eyes as he sees it's only Mark, announcing yet another party. He shakes his head, tells himself he should just calm down, that Armie will eventually answer him and explain what happened, but there's something inside of him that can't help but think there's something really wrong going on. 

What if Armie's brother was there? Or if his father showed up and said horrible things to him again? After what they went through with his father, the last thing Timothée wants is for him to suffer. 

He hears an engine and swiftly stands up, squinting his eyes because of the Sun as he sees the car approach him. He groans as it passes him by, just like the many other ones that have done the exact same on the last couple of minutes. As he is about to walk away, he watches as a car appears down the road and slows down as it approaches him. For a good second he smiles, thinking it really is Armie, only to frown as he notices Zac is the one behind the wheel.

"You have a car now?" He asks incredulous after Zac parks beside him and rolls down the window, a smug look on his face. "When did this happen?"

"Just this morning."

"And you thinking your parents were pissed at you."

"I still think they are, but they are also tired of driving me around."

"They barely did that," Timothée says with a chuckle as Zac shrugs. "What you doing around here?"

"Was heading to the beach, saw you standing here and decided to stop by. Is everything alright?"

"Armie promised he was going to pick me up here, but not only he hasn't showed up, but he also won't answer his phone."

"He's a little bit late, Tim, that happens."

"He was supposed to pick me up at three, Zac."

"Oh, that's a lot of time waiting."

Timothée nods, his eyes wandering around the street. "Will you drop me off at his place?"

"Sure, hop on."

"Thanks, man."

"What are friends for if not to drive their friends to their boyfriend's house?" He smirks and Timothée chuckles, Zac's presence able to bring some peace of mind to him, even if only for a couple of minutes. 

  
  
  


************

  
  


"Armie, it's me again, I've been calling you for hours and I am starting to get really worried here. Can you please just pick up the phone? Just tell me where you are, I need to make sure you are safe and sound. Please, call me."

Timothée sighs, throwing the phone down on the counter before burying his face in his hands. It's almost seven and Armie remains in complete silence, not even a single text to let him know he is alright. He has been trying his very best to remain calm, not make a big deal out of this situation, but every second that goes by only makes him feel worse. 

He turns around on the stool as the door opens, holding out his breath in anticipation, only to groan and shake his head when he sees it's Lois standing there. He tries to smile at her, but finds it hard to do, the expression on her face quickly changing as she looks around the empty house.

"Is everything okay?"

"That depends, have you talked to Armie?"

"I talked to him this morning after he dropped you off at the supermarket. Why?"

"He said he would pick me up there at three, but he didn't show up and he won't answer his phone."

"Have you tried talking to Mark or Jake?"

Timothée nods, his eyes worried. "I've talked to both of them and neither has seen or talked to Armie today. I tried calling the store, but I guess Paul closed already, so you were my last hope."

"Tim, I get that you are worried, but Armie can be quite spontaneous sometimes. Besides, talking to his parents always leaves him a bit uneasy."

"That's exactly why I am so worried, Lois. This conversation came completely out of the blue and..." Timothée trails off as he sees the look on Lois' eyes. She is biting her lip, her eyes avoiding his, almost as if she knows a bit more than she is willing to say. "Lois, do you know something I don't?"

"I don't know anything, Tim. All he told me was that he was going to talk to his mom."

He nods, not exactly sure he believes her. "Look, I've tried, but I can't simply sit here and wait for him to show up, so I'm gonna try to find him."

"Timothée, you have no idea where he could be."

"I know a couple places he could go. Either way, sitting here won't help me feel better, so I might as well go."

"Are you sure?"

Timothée nods, reaches for his phone and gives Lois a small smile. "Call me if he shows up, okay?"

"I'll do that, but please stay calm. It might not always look like, but Armie is quite responsible."

"I'll be fine, don't worry." 

  
  


*****************

  
  


**//now_playing//** _Crawling - Linkin Park_

 

The moonlight shines through the windows of the record store, which remains with its lights off and the music playing repeatedly on the speakers. Sitting on the floor, surrounded by empty bottles is Armie, his back up against the wall and his head down; he holds a joint in between his fingers, his left foot lazily tapping on the floor. His clothes are a mess, his eyes are puffy and by now it´s almost impossible to tell if it´s because he has been crying or if this is caused by all the booze. 

With a sigh, he leans his head back on the wall, his eyes wandering around the dark store as he takes a long drag. While he blows out the smoke, Viktor´s voice fills his ears and the sight of his mother crying in the corner seems to burn itself on his brain. He has never felt worse and right now he would do almost anything to feel completely numb.


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timothée finds Armie, but the situation brings back awful memories.

 

**Venice Ink**

**Part 34**

  
  


"Hey, this is me again. It´s almost midnight and no one has heard from you yet. I don´t know what happened with your mother, but please, please, just call me back and let me know if you are alright. I´m really worried about you and I need to know you´re okay. I love you, just remember that."

Timothée hangs up the phone with a sigh, his trembling hands rubbing against his jeans, his worried eyes overlooking the mostly empty beach. He spent the last couple of hours going to every single place Armie could have gone to, calling everyone he knew that might have some information on him, but all his efforts were for nothing. 

Armie clearly didn´t want to be found and while Timothée knows there might be a rational answer for this, he can´t help but fear for the worst. What if he got involved in a car crash? What if right now, as he stands on that lifeguard stand, Armie is in a hospital somewhere fighting for his life?

The thought alone is too much for Timothée to bear, so he picks himself up, drags himself down the ramp and takes one last look around the beach, his eyes falling on the record store at the pier. When he first got to the beach the lights were out, but now they are on despite the fact that the doors are still closed. Confused, but suddenly a little more hopeful, Timothée runs through the sand, doing his best to reach the pier as fast as he possibly can.

He leans his ear against the door, the faint sound of music coming from inside and igniting something inside of him. His fists are on the door nearly seconds later, slamming it repeatedly until he hears someone scream from the inside. The voice is slightly altered, the music makes it difficult to hear clearly, but there´s no denying it´s Armie. 

He knocks on the door a couple more times, sighs as there´s no response and looks around the place. The pier is empty, most people inside the club at the opposite side, there´s no one to see him make a fool of himself, not that this would matter much at this point. He takes a couple steps back, inhales deeply and runs towards the door, slamming his shoulders against it. The door only trembles and he groans, preparing himself to have another go at it. He takes a bigger impulse, slams himself against the door with all his force and stumbles forward as it opens.

Timothée manages to catch himself before falling face first to the ground, but the sight ahead of him is more painful than any fall could be. Armie is nearly lying on the ground, bottles of vodka and beer spread around him, a burn out join in between his fingers, dirty clothes and his blue eyes that are usually so bright are now nearly lifeless.

He looks around himself, trying to understand what could have possibly happened to cause this, but he knows Armie is in no condition to explain anything right now. What he needs is a shower, a cup of coffee and some sleep. He closes his eyes for a moment, sighs and counts to ten, trying to calm himself down and push away the images of his father almost in the same exact position. They are not alike and he has nothing to worry about.

Timothée takes a few steps closer, kneels down on the floor and pushes some of the bottles to the side before he can take a hold of Armie´s arm and wrap it around his shoulders, his free hand holding tightly onto his waist. He can smell booze and weed, but once again he has to focus on something other than this or else he might not make it through.

"Hey, I´m gonna get you home."

"Just leave me here," Armie mumbles.

"Like hell I´m gonna leave you alone. Just hang tight and we´ll be home soon enough. Okay?"

"Leave me alone."

"We´re going home, Armie."

Armie shakes his head, tries to get away from Timothée´s grip, but the amount of alcohol in his organism is just too much for him to be able to do anything properly. He groans loudly as they get up from the floor, his head pounding and spinning, his feet betraying him and nearly sending him back to the ground.

"Jesus Christ, how much did you drink?" Timothée doesn´t really wait for an answer, he simply pulls Armie closer to his body and drags him along with him out of the store. It takes him some time to find the keys on Armie´s pocket and manage to lock it, but once that is out of the way, he manages to get a better grip at Armie, who seems a bit better as fresh air hits them.

The walk home takes nearly two times more than it usually does, Timothée´s body struggling with the extra weight. Armie stumbles, groans, tries to push himself away from Timothée, but he does everything he can to keep hold on him and not let anything bad happen. 

Once secluded inside the house, Timothée can finally let out a breath, his shoulders sore and his legs a bit wobbly. He takes a couple of deep breaths, sits Armie down on the couch and turns on the coffee maker. Looking over his shoulder, Timothée watches as Armie tries to lift himself up and sighs, running towards him to catch him before he can fall.

"Let me go," Armie mumbles between random grunts.

"You´re not going anywhere."

"I want to leave."

"You´re not leaving this house, so suck it up and come with me."

While Armie groans, Timothée takes a tight grip on his waist and helps him to the bathroom, sitting him on the toilet while he runs the bath. He leans his hands on his hips, watching as the water starts to fill the tub and sighs; he is aware this isn´t exactly the best option, but there is no way he can handle holding Armie while he tries to shower, so the tub will have to do it.

He kneels down on the floor, reaches for Armie´s jeans and unzips it, pulling it down as he groans and pushes his hands away. Timothée closes his eyes, tries to keep himself calm and grabs his face in his hands, a stern look on his eyes despite his smile.

"Help me out here, okay? Let me take your clothes off, Armie."

"I don´t want to," he pouts.

"Armie, please, let me help you out."

Armie sighs, raises his arms and tries his best to stay still as Timothée pulls his shirt off of him. He holds onto his stomach, a retching sensation taking him over, which causes him to close his eyes as tight as he possibly can.

"Are you okay?"

"I´m not sure."

"Let´s get you clean and then you can lie down and rest, okay?"

"Okay."

Timothée smiles, pulls Armie up and manages to take his jeans off, tossing them to the side before he helps Armie inside the tub. He watches as he shivers and grunts, his lips quivering as he lowers himself on the cold water. Timothée smiles softly, his hand slowly running through Armie´s body, making sure he is clean.

"Is too cold."

"I know and I am sorry, but you need this."

"I don´t want this."

"I know, it´s gonna be over soon."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Armie shivers, rubbing his hands against his thighs. "Why you helping me?"

"Why shouldn´t I?"

"I´m not good, Timmy."

"That´s the booze talking, Armie."

"No, it´s not," he coughs and shakes his head. "I am a horrible person and everyone knows it, you can ask my mom, my father and specially Viktor."

"Viktor" Timothée mumbles, shaking his head. "Armie, I don´t know what he said to you, but I´m sure it wasn´t true."

"It was though, it was all true. I´m a failure, Tim, I didn´t accomplish anything in my life and I ruin everyone else´s around me. Sometimes I wonder what´s the point of me being here."

Timothée frowns, his eyes roaming through Armie´s face and studying his every expression. Armie is usually so optimistic, always ready to smile and have a word of comfort, but suddenly he is the one baring it all and it might be the booze helping, but these are things he never told him. 

"You were right this morning."

"Right about what?"

"About you and me. You should break up with me, because I´m only gonna disappoint you."

"Armie, that´s not true."

"Yes, it is. Just leave me, I´m bound to be alone anyway."

"Stop talking like this," Timothée says with a stern voice as he gets up, reaching for a towel to wrap Armie in. He helps him up, carefully holds his hand while he steps out of the tub and then dries him off quickly before wrapping the towel around his waist. 

Timothée holds onto his waist, wraps his arm around his shoulders and leads Armie down the hallway, making sure to lock the door to the bedroom behind him. He sits Armie down on the bed, watches as he instantly lies down and clinges into the pillow, holding tightly against his chest.

"I´m gonna go get you some coffee, then we gonna put some clothes on you."

"I don´t want you to help me."

"Well, that´s too bad, because I´m gonna do it anyway."

"Why do you bother? I´m nothing, I´m not worth it."

"Stop talking like that," Timothée nearly shouts, aware he shouldn´t be bothered by this, since the alcohol is probably enhancing Armie´s attitude, but he simply can´t help and feel awful when he hears those things. "You are worth it, okay?"

"No, I am not and you´ll soon find out." Armie chuckles, his blue eyes wandering to Timothée. "What a pair we are, huh?"

"What are you talking about?"

"We´re both kind of fucked up, aren´t we? Maybe that´s why we found each other."

"Okay, Armie, that´s enough. Get some rest and I´ll go get you some coffee."

“Don't get annoyed, I'm just being honest.”

“Shut up and get some rest, I'm not gonna listen to your bullshit anymore. We can talk tomorrow, once you're sober and can remember the things you're saying.”

  
  


******************

  
  


Armie gets up with a groan, his head pounding and his mouth dry. He rubs his eyes, taking in deep breaths as he sits down on the bed, his sore eyes wandering around the empty room. The left side of the bed seems untouched, the pillow perfectly placed and no apparent wrinkle on the sheets; not only he didn´t move at all during the night, it seems like Timothée didn´t share the bed with him.

He sighs, burying his face in his hands as he recalls the events of the previous day. From the fear he had inside of him when he decided to go behind Timothée´s back and ask for his mother´s help, to him lying on the floor of the record store, drowning himself in vodka. Things are a bit embroiled inside his head, the things that succeeded his argument with Viktor working like puzzle pieces he has to put together, but even if he isn´t sure of anything, he knows he said things he shouldn´t really be proud of.

He can hear voices coming from the kitchen and with one deep breath, he pushes himself up and takes a quick look down at himself, noticing he is completely nude. He reaches for some shorts on the drawer, puts it on and makes his way out of the bedroom and down the hallway, squinting his eyes as he reaches the kitchen, the sunlight hurting his eyes.

"Good morning," he nearly whispers as Lois and Timothée turn to look at him. 

"Good morning. Nice to know you´re able to stand up this morning, cousin."

"Please, Lois, don´t start." He watches as she shrugs, turning her attention back to her plate as he drags himself around. He takes a seat on a stool, holding onto the counter when his head starts pinning and an awful taste fills his mouth. "Can I have some coffee, please?"

In complete silence, Timothée slides the coffee pot and a mug towards Armie, their eyes meeting for a brief second before Armie turns his head down. Timothée scoffs, shakes his head and hops off of the counter, attracting eyes from both Armie and Lois.

"I have to go or I´m gonna be late."

"Can´t we talk?"

"No, Armie, we can´t talk, at least not right now."

"I just wanted to..."

"I´m almost late, so we´re not doing this right now. After I´m done with work and you´re no longer going through a hangover, then we´ll talk about what the fuck happened yesterday."

"Okay."

"I´ll see you later," he smiles softly at Lois, his hand landing on her shoulder before he reaches for his backpack and his skate on the couch. 

Armie watches him leave with a sad look on his eyes, his heart breaking a little when Timothée doesn´t even look back at him. He sighs, looks down and lets his finger trace the mug, his head still hurting as he tries to mend all the pieces to his puzzle together.

"I don´t know exactly what happened yesterday, but I hope you´ll think twice before putting him through such a thing, Armie." 

"I didn´t mean to hurt him."

"I believe you, I truly do, but you do understand how bad this might have affected him, right? Not only you completely disappeared, avoiding all his calls and texts, but you also made sure he had to take care of your drunk ass while you talked shit. Armie, his father is an alcoholic, just days ago he almost lost his Graduation because he was making sure his father wasn´t passed out on his front yard, and now he had to drag you around?"

Armie looks down in shame, the bad taste in his mouth seeming even worse now.

"I´m sorry, maybe I´m overreacting, but if I was Timothée I would be very worried right now."

"I didn´t mean to... I didn´t mean to scare him or anything, I was just lost."

"Than you should have talked to him, Armie. You and Timothée have a bond that is bigger than anything that has ever happened in your life, don´t push him away by doing things recklessly. Talk to him, apologize and please, try not to do this with him again."

Armie simply nods, tears already filling his eyes as he looks down at his hands. He feels like a mess, all the things Viktor spilled at him still hurting and making him question pretty much everything he has ever done. Maybe he was selfish, maybe he did have trouble considering other people´s feelings.

From the corner of his eyes, he watches as Lois gets up, collecting the plates and placing them down on the sink. He bites on his bottom lip, takes a deep breath and turns around on his seat, his eyes meeting hers.

"What?"

"Did you know?"

"About?"

"Did you know about my parents?"

  
  
  


********************

  
  
  


The staff room at the supermarket has tiny little dusty windows at the top where the sun shines through, giving the room an orange tone. Lying on the couch, Timothée has his phone in his hands while he stares up at the windows, watching as some birds fly by. He can´t stop thinking about what happened the night before, the things Armie said and how heartbroken he was to see him lying on the floor of the record store. Flashbacks from his father kept flooding his mind, even though he tries his very best to push them back. 

The door opening catches his attention and he turns to the side, watching as Maxence walks in. He gives him a small smile, turns back to the windows and remains in silence, listening as the older boy walks around the room and opens his locker. Distracted by his thoughts, Timothée barely notices Maxence approaching, which causes him to startle himself when he suddenly appears by his side, eyes down on him with a frown.

"What´s going on?"

"I had a little problem with my boyfriend, just that."

"Is that why you were sitting at the curb all alone yesterday?"

"You saw me?"

"I did. I thought of going there and talking to you, but we don´t really know each other that well yet, so I thought it was better to leave you alone."

Timothée nods, sitting down on the couch. "My boyfriend kind of disappeared yesterday and I got worried about him, but everything is alright now. Or at least I think it is."

"You don´t have to say anything."

"There´s not even much to say, you know. He´s safe and at home, but we didn´t really have the chance to talk. Is just, the whole thing hit me in a way I wasn´t expecting, it was way too close to home, I suppose and I..." Timothée trails off, shaking his head as he realizes he almost said too much. He looks over at Maxence, who´s got a reassuring smile on his face and shrugs.

"Again, you don´t have to say anything. But you do look like you need some relaxing, so maybe you´d like to join me at the skatepark?"

"The skate park?"

"Yeah, there´s this skatepark that´s been renovated and all my friends keep saying it´s looking amazing, so I was really looking forward to going there. Maybe you would like to go too? Or have you been there already?"

"A couple times," Timothée says with a grin. "Actually, I was the one with the project to renovate it."

"Oh, shut up."

"I´m serious. My friend and I worked on this project, and to my surprise a lot of people came together to help us out. Actually, this is how I met my boyfriend, he was the one responsible for the art on the skate park."

"Your boyfriend is Armie Hammer?"

"You know him?" He asks with a frown as Maxence shrugs his shoulders. "From where?"

"I think anyone in Venice Beach who likes street art knows Armie Hammer."

"I´m not buying it, Maxence."

"Okay. I´ve seen him around a couple of times, we´ve been in the same parties, happened to run into each other at a mutual friend´s places, but that´s about it. I don´t think we have ever talked to each other, actually."

"Is that it?"

"What else would it be?"

"I don´t know, there´s something about the way you said it."

Maxence sighs, taking a seat beside Timothée on the couch. "I´ve only heard things about him, Timothée. I know he´s a great artist, a lot of people seem to like him and as far as I knew, he wasn´t into guys."

"That´s until he met me."

"Oh, getting cocky, huh?"

"I think I´m learning a thing or two with him."

"So, you´re going or not?"

Timothée looks down at his phone, debating whether or not to text Armie so they can discuss things, but he knows he needs more time. He wants to sit down to talk, he wants to know what happened, but he wants to do this once he is feeling more calm and relaxed. And if there´s one thing that never fails to relax him, is a skate.

"Sure, let´s go."

"Great. Are you any good?"

"Well, let´s find out."

  
  
  


*************

  
  


Fresh air, the breeze from the ocean and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore work better than any medicine Armie could have taken. His body aches, his headache persists, but at least he doesn't feel like the whole world is spinning around him and the bad taste in his mouth is gone too. Regret for the things he said the previous night and what he made Timothée go through are still latent though, and he fears it will take him a while to actually forgive himself.

Timothée doesn't deserve to go through things like this, and Armie can only imagine what went through his head when he caught him at the record store. He doesn't want to be a burden, he wants to be a safe haven for Timothée, the place he can run to when everything else feels wrong. Armie wants to be the one person he can forever count on.

With his eyes closed, head leaned against the wall, Armie takes deep breaths, trying his best to relax his body. He has texted Timothée a couple of times, but so far he got nothing in return and a part of him fears he is doing this to get back at him, even if he knows Timothée is not that kind of person. Tired of sitting there all alone, Armie pushes himself up, takes off his shoes and decides to take a walk along the beach, his sad blue eyes watching as his toes sink on the sand.

Armie buys a bottle of water, drinks it all in seconds and reaches the pier, putting his sneakers back on. He contemplates walking to the supermarket, but decides to go to the skatepark instead, maybe some familiar faces will help lift up his spirit. He walks slowly, eyes wandering around the streets, lips twitching in an attempt at a smile as some kids pass him by. 

Once he reaches the skate park, it doesn't really take him long to spot Timothée, who has a bright smile on his face as he zigzags across the pavement, his hair falling down his forehead. Armie watches him from afar, arms crossed above his chest and a small smile on his lips. He is about to shout his name when he sees him stop, take his skate under his arm and sit down beside another guy, who smiles wide at him. 

It doesn't really take Armie much to recognize the guy sitting beside Timothée, a known face he hasn't seen in a while. But that doesn't really matter right now, because Timothée's laugh becomes louder and the cheerful expression on his face as he chats with Maxence suddenly gets the best of him. He is just talking, there's nothing much, he shouldn't be feeling any type of jealousy. Still, he can't really help himself.

He takes a couple of steps closer, bites down hard on his lip, feels his body go rigid and the bad taste in his mouth come back. Why is he feeling this way? What is he scared of? He knows he has no reason to be, but Armie also feels like someone else entirely for the last twenty four hours, which causes him to act in a way he isn't really happy with.

Armie blinks a couple of times and suddenly his eyes lock with Maxence's, whose smile suddenly drops. He sighs, licks his lips and watches as Timothée turns around, a serious look on his face as he sees him standing there. Armie remains quiet though, his hands now stuck in his pockets as he watches Timothée turn back to Maxence, say something and then get up, a sigh escaping him as he slowly makes his way over to him.

"Hi," Timothée nearly whispers.

"What were you doing with him?"

"I'm sorry?"

"What were you doing with that guy?"

Timothée scoffs, looking over his shoulder for a moment before turning back to Armie. 

"Okay. How about I pretend this didn't happen and we start over?"

"Am I supposed to ignore the fact you've been avoiding me for hours? That instead of replying to my texts you've been here giggling away with that guy?"

"Armie, I didn't go through all that shit yesterday for you to come here and make a fucking scene because I am hanging out with a friend."

"What friend? I've never seen you with this guy before, neither did I hear you talk about him, so..."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know I had to give you a list of all the people I hang out with." Timothée shakes his head, a sigh escaping him as he runs his fingers through his hair. He eyes Armie, a disappointed look on his face as he takes one step closer. "I don't know what the fuck happened with you yesterday, Armie, because you chose to ignore me other than let me know what was going on with you. But I was the one who carried you around town, stumbling on your own feet, barely able to keep your eyes open. I was the one who gave you a bath, who made sure you didn't fall face first on the floor and who had to listen to you talking bullshit not only about yourself, but also about me. I did go through all of this because I care about you more than anything, but I will not tolerate you accusing me of things, I will not go through this drama."

Armie tries to say something, to clean is head and give Timothée the answer he deserves. He feels his entire face burning, the tears that has been able to hold for so long come to the surface and his heart pound inside his chest. This is not how he expected things to go. He wanted to talk to Timothée, explain what happened and yet he made a mess of everything.

"Timothée..."

"Maybe you need some time to think things through, put your head in the right place."

"What are you talking about?"

"Go home, Armie."

"You can't just send me away."

"Armie, you've put me through hell the last twenty four hours. I was afraid that something bad had happened to you, I was scared I had lost you and the situation you put me through brought back horrible memories. So go home, because I think we both need some time to ourselves."

Armie shakes his head and tries to reach out for Timothée, only to sigh as he steps back. He takes a couple of deep breaths, bites down on his lip and sighs as Timothée walks past him and down the street. His life is crashing down all around him and he doesn't know what to do anymore. He simply wants things to go back to how they were before, he just wants his life back.


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It´s time to talk.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 35**

  
  
  


The fog takes over the entire bathroom, the hot water cascading down his body as it washes away his frustration and fears, or at least he wishes it did. Timothée has been going through a hurricane of emotions the past few hours, and every time he feels like things are about to get better, it's like everything falls apart again and he finds himself alone and scared. But Timothée is tired of being scared, he is tired of feeling powerless and watching as he life falls apart. 

He sighs, turns off the shower and reaches for a towel at the hanger, wrapping around his body as he steps out of the shower. He looks at himself in the mirror, rubs his face in his hands and dries himself off before putting on some clean clothes. He puts the towel back in the hanger and steps out of the bathroom, the fog invading the bedroom as Zac looks up from his comic book and gives him a small smile.

"Feeling any better?"

"Honestly? Not really."

"Come on, let's play some video games and get your mind off of everything."

Timothée sighs, nods his head and takes a seat beside Zac on the floor, leaning his back against the wall as his eyes wander to the television. He can't stop thinking about Armie, the way he looked last night, the guilt in his eyes when they last saw each other that afternoon and he fears he might have overreacted, even if he was being completely honest. He knows Armie isn't like his father, he knows he shouldn't be scared, but he saw and heard way too much to not worry one bit about any of this. 

"Hey, you alright?" Timothée snaps out of his thoughts, his eyes wandering to Zac, who arches an eyebrow. "Bro, I know you're hurt and that Armie might have done and said some bullshit, but you know him better than that and if he's acting this way it might be because he is going through something."

"Then why won't he tell me? He chose to ignore me completely, leave me wondering what the fuck had happened with him and when we finally have the chance to talk, he chooses to make a whole scene because of a random guy?"

"I know having to take care of Armie while he was drunk might have brought back some bad memories from your father. But don't forget that when things got bad between you and your father, you also disappeared on him, on all of us, and left us worried sick about you."

Timothée looks down at his hands, a sigh escaping him as Zac's words play over and over inside his head.

"You have all the right to be hurt, Tim, but you also need to give Armie some time to explain himself. Right now you have absolutely no idea of what is going through his head and he might be needing you more than you can imagine."

The phone vibrates before Timothée even has the chance the reply and he quickly reaches for it on the bed, biting his lip as he sees a couple of messages from Armie on his screen.

 

 **< armie>** _im sorry 4 what i did_

_ believe me when i say i never meant to hurt you _

_ but right now i can barely think straight _

_ my life is crashing down around me Tim _

_.... _

_.... _

_.... _

_ i need u _

 

Timothée stares down at the messages, his heart aching as he tries to imagine what Armie is going through right now. He takes a deep breath, rubs his face and lets his fingers hove above the keyboard for a good minute as he tries to figure out what to say.

"Go talk to him," Timothée looks over his shoulder and Zac gives him a nod. "You both need this."

Timothée nods, pulls himself up and reaches for his sneakers, putting them on as quickly as he can. He grabs his wallet, gives Zac a small smile and rushes out of the bedroom, typing a reply as he runs down the stairs.

 

**< timmy>** _ i will be there in 5 _

_ just wait for me _

_.... _

_.... _

_.... _

_ i love u _

  
  
  


**************

  
  
  


The moon is high in the sky, its bright light illuminating the streets as Timothée walks down the sidewalk, hands inside his pockets and eyes wandering around the quiet neighborhood. He stops by the front yard of Armie´s place, Lois´ car parked right in front of the house, which remains in the shadows while the garage door is open. He bites on his lip, takes a deep breath and heads to the garage, slowly walking past the open doors, his eyes widening as he looks around the place.

Armie is standing in the middle of the room, his head down and his arms crossed against his chest. That is the one thing that brings Timothée some peace of mind, because while Armie stands there, he is surrounded by spilled paint, broken brushes and shattered canvas. His eyes immediately water at the sight, all of Armie´s work gone, except for two; on the opposite side, the two remaining paintings are the one Armie painted of him and another one of a young woman crying, which Timothée swiftly recognizes as a young Julia, Armie´s mother.

"Armie, what have you done?"

Armie immediately turns around, his sad blue eyes landing on Timothée, who walks over to him slowly. He shrugs, eyes wandering around the room as he bites on his lip. It doesn´t take long for anyone to notice he is not in a good place, his face and body language says it all and Timothée can´t help but feel his heart ache for him. Armie is always so happy, seeing him like this is something Timothée wishes to never experience again.

"It took me so long to realize I am not the person I thought I was. That I wasn´t the victim of the story, but the villain, the reason why everything goes wrong around me. I kept pointing fingers, screaming for freedom, but didn´t realize that my freedom had consequences and that my actions were hurting the people I love. I´m a horrible person, Timothée."

"No, that´s not true." Timothée whispers as he lifts Armie´s chin, forcing him to face him. "Listen to me, Armie. You´re loyal, fun, inspirational and you have the biggest heart in the world. You are a good person, so please, don´t let anyone tell you otherwise, because those people clearly don´t know you."

"I want to believe that, I really do, but all I can think about right now is that I ruined everyone´s lives."

"No, you didn´t." Timothée slides his hand to the back of Armie´s neck, his thumb softly stroking his skin. "When you walked into my life, everything started making sense again. Because of you, I went back to having fun, I felt like I could be myself again, I made new friends and I found the will to actually go on with the fucked up life I live. You are the reason why I smile, Armie, but it kills me to see you like this and not know what is happening. I want to help you, so please, talk to me."

Armie sighs, his shoulders bending forward as he breaks down and allows his tears to fall. He tries his best to control himself, but by now he doesn´t have the strength to do so anymore. His face and neck turn a bright red, his sobs increase by the second and his lips quiver as he launches himself against Timothée´s body, his strong arms wrapping tightly around him, seeking comfort he knows only he can provide.

Timothée closes his eyes to hold back his tears, his hand slowly stroking Armie´s head, while he buries his face in the crook of his neck. He wants to ask a million questions, he wants to know what the hell happened to cause Armie to break down like this, but he understands that at this very moment all he needs is his arms around him. So patiently, Timothée simply stands there in complete silence and allows Armie to do whatever he needs to do.

Every second seems like an hour, but eventually Armie pulls back, wipes away his tears and tries his best to force a smile down at Timothée, whose concerned eyes search for answers.

"Do you wanna go inside?" Timothée finally asks, cupping Armie´s face in his hands. "I´ll make us some tea, then we can curl up under your blankets and you can tell me what happened. Or we can just sit there quietly, if you prefer, I´m not picky."

"I like the sound of that."

"Okay, c´mon then."

He takes Armie´s hand in his, squeezes it softly and leads him out of the garage, both of them taking one last look inside before they close the doors. While they walk to the house, Armie keeps rubbing his thumb against Timothée´s skin, a move that seems to calm him down as much as possible. 

Once inside, Armie goes straight to his bedroom and Timothée remains in the kitchen, a sigh escaping him as he sets the kettle on the stove. He keeps himself attentive to any sound around him, apprehensive that Armie would do anything drastic; by the time the tea is done, Timothée rushes to the bedroom, finding Armie exactly like he described, under the blankets and with his back against the wall.

Timothée smiles sweetly at him, climbs on the bed right beside him and hands Armie one of the mugs before he pulls the blankets on top of his body. It´s a hot summer night, the tea and blankets are completely unnecessary, but if this is what Armie needs to feel better, that´s what he is gonna do.

He moves closer, slides his hand down his arm and entwines their fingers while Armie lays his head on his shoulder. He looks down at him with a sad smile, his eyes filling with tears once again. As he takes a sip of his tea, feeling the warmth of it fills his entire body, he hears Armie´s voice echo in the room.

"My parents are getting a divorce..."

  
  
  


***************

  
  


The room has gone quiet, the only light coming from the the small lamp by the bedside table. Still sitting in bed is Timothée, his eyes distant as he lazily strokes Armie's hair. He will steal quick glances down at him, make sure he's still asleep after such an emotionally demanding conversation. It took him a while to actually get everything out, but it took him even more time to actually calm down and get himself to a stage he could relax his body and fall asleep.

From day one Timothée saw Armie as this giant ball of energy, someone who was always smiling and trying to lift others up, so to see him so depressed was heartbreaking. Not only that, it also made Timothée feel quite powerless, because as much as he tried, he simply couldn't figure out what to say to make things better. It took him a while, but it eventually downed on him that at that particular moment, Armie didn't need anything to be said to him, he simply needed to be heard.

And so he did. Timothée paid close attention to every single word Armie said, he cried along with him, he held him close and tried to show his support instead of speaking about it. Eventually it seemed to work, and Armie slowly drifted off to sleep with his head on Timothée's lap. But now it was Timothée who had a raging fire burning inside of him, because although he could understand Viktor's pain, he knew he had absolutely no right to treat Armie the way he was doing. 

Armie did what he did because he was searching for his own identity, trying to find his place in the world. He never meant to hurt anyone or intentionally abandon his family, he simply wanted to find happiness. 

Looking down at him, Timothée can't help but smile, the peaceful expression on his face one he adores and longed for the past two days. He finally feels like his Armie is coming back, even if he is aware it will take more than just one simple conversation to make things better. Armie is hurt, disappointed, blaming himself for things he had no control over, and Timothée knows the feeling way too well to know it doesn't go away easily. Sometimes it never goes.

He carefully fixes Armie's body on the bed, placing his head on the pillow and pulling the sheets on top of his body. He sits completely still for a minute, making sure Armie is still asleep, then slowly gets up, heading out of the bedroom as quietly as he possibly can. He closes the door behind, leans against the wall and let's out a heavy sigh, the tension he has been feeling throughout the whole day finally seeming to go away.

Timothée nearly drags himself to the kitchen, his body tired and begging for some sleep, but a part of him is scared of doing so. He wants to be awake, ready to help Armie with anything he needs, even if he knows that he won't be much of a help if he can barely keep himself up. He grabs a bottle of water in the kitchen, walks back to the living room and throws himself on the couch, his eyes wandering through the quiet and dark house.

The quietness doesn't last much, though. The doors opens all of a sudden and Timothée nearly jumps up in surprise, a sigh of relief escaping him as he sees Lois walk in. Their eyes meet and she smiles, closing the door behind her before she nearly runs towards him.

"I hoped you would be here," she admits as Timothée nods. "How is he?"

"No good, to be honest."

"Has he at least managed to talk?"

"Yes, he did. He explained everything that happened, what Viktor said and how bad he is feeling with himself."

"I've tried to get some sense inside his head, explain to him that none of this was his doing, but he wouldn't listen to me."

"He thinks he is a bad person, Lois. He actually thinks he doesn't deserve happiness, all because his idiot of a brother made him believe that every thing wrong that's happened in their lives is his fault."

"Viktor has a lot of anger buried deep inside of him."

"And I can honestly see why, because I am sure it wasn't easy to see his brother leaving, but he has no right to do things this way."

"I agree with you, that's why I'm thinking I could try and talk to him."

"You think that could help?"

Lois shrugs, her fingers running through her hair. "In all honestly, I think what the Hammers need right now is a big ass family therapy session, but since I can't really see any of them go through that, I can try to get some sense into my cousin."

"At this point, I think it's fair we try every possible way. All I want is to see Armie happy again, because I can't bear to see him so depressed, hating himself for destroying his family."

"Hey," she reaches out for Timothée, taking his hand in hers. "As long as you're around him, I'm sure everything will be a lot easier."

"I don't plan on going anywhere, Lois. There might be some ups and downs, but I love your cousin and I will not let him go."

"He's lucky to have you, Tim."

"I'm the lucky one," he says with a smile. "I should go back to the bedroom now, I don't want to leave him alone."

"Of course, go and get some rest too, you deserve it."

Timothée nods, places a quick kiss on her cheek and gets up. He turns back around before he can reach the hallway, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Where you with Jake?"

"Go to bed, Timothée!"

Timothée simply laughs, the look on Lois' face saying everything he needs to know. He winks at her, turns on his heels and chuckles as he heads back to the bedroom, a yawn escaping him as he closes the door behind him. It doesn't take him long to notice Armie is awake again, his blue eyes staring into the distance as he lies on his back. Timothée sighs, takes off his shirt and tosses to the side before climbing in bed with him.

"Go back to sleep, it's late."

"I'm not sure I can."

"Okay, then we can just lie here."

"You don't have to put up with this, Tim. You can go home if you want, or stay at Zac's place. I know I'm not good company right now."

"You really think I'm leaving you alone right now? Armie, I love you, which means I am here for whatever you need."

"Thank you," he nearly whispers.

Timothée simply shrugs and pulls Armie closer, wrapping an arm around him while he kisses his head. 

  
  
  


****************

  
  


Armie blinks a couple of times, his eyes adjusting to the light that comes in through the open curtains, illuminating the entire room. He sighs, rolls onto his back and stares up at the ceiling for a brief moment before turning to the side, a frown on his face as he notices the empty bed. He spent most of the night dreading going back to sleep, an unprecedented fear that he would wake up all alone, that Timothée would have gotten tired of his bullshit and left. In the end, it seems like he was right to be scared.

With a sigh, he pushes himself up and kicks the sheets to the side, instantly reaching for his phone on the nightstand. He checks for any messages, but finds it nothing other than yet another text from his mother, who's been desperately trying to talk to him ever since their failed lunch two days ago. He ponders replying back to her, knowing she is probably worried, but turns off the phone only seconds later. He isn't sure he is ready to talk to her, even through a cellphone.

The door opens suddenly and Armie immediately turns to it, a sense of relief taking him over as Timothée stands there, a tray on his hands and a smile on his lips. He watches quietly as Timothée closes the door behind him, kicks his shoes to the side and climbs in bed with him, setting the tray right in between them. He smiles, leans in to Timothée's touch when he slides his hand down his neck and closes his eyes when he pulls him closer to a brief and tender kiss.

"You thought I had left, didn't you?"

"How do you..."

"I could see it in your eyes the moment I walked in." Timothée winks, kissing Armie once more before he leans back, stealing a grape from the tray and stuffing it in his mouth. "How you feeling?"

Armie shrugs, his thumb slowly caressing Timothée's skin. "You want an honest answer?"

"Always."

"I'm not great, but definitely better than the last two days."

"That's an improvement. This might not be what you want to hear, but it will take you more than a good night of sleep to get over this, Armie."

"I know, but I wish it was easier to digest all of this, you know? I am not a child anymore, it makes me feel like a fool for being this affected by my parent's divorce."

"Armie, this is your family we're talking about, you have all the right to be affected by their problems without feeling embarrassed by it. A couple days ago you said yourself you had finally realized your father wasn't the man you always pictured him to be, now you find out he has been cheating on your mother, of course that's gonna hit you hard, but it's okay to feel this way."

"I wish I was as strong as you are."

"I'm not that strong."

"Look at all you've been through, Tim, you're the strongest one of us and I don't even know how you can put up with my bullshit."

"I would be an asshole to leave you all alone when you need me the most."

"Thank you for being here for me," he says with a small smile as he cradles Timothée's face. "I was an asshole to you, ignoring your calls, forcing you to take care of me and then putting on a silly jealous scene because of Maxence, but I never meant to hurt you and I hope you know that."

"I know, don't worry."

Armie nods, his eyes wandering to the breakfast tray that still lies in between them. "Maybe we should focus on breakfast? I don't want you to be late for work because of me."

"That sounds like a good idea," he says with a smile as he leans closer to Armie, his hand sliding to his neck. "Although I wouldn't mind missing one day of work to stay here with you."

"We can do something later today, maybe watch a movie or something, but I'm not letting you lose work because of me. I've already been a hassle to you the last two days, I don't want to cause you any more trouble."

"Armie, you're never a hassle, please remember that."

"Viktor would say otherwise."

"Well, Viktor can fuck off," he says as Armie arches an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, I know he is your brother and you love him, but in all honesty, he is being an asshole."

Armie chuckles, wrapping an arm around Timothée and pulling him closer while placing a kiss on his head. "You're the best."

  
  
  


****************

  
  
  


Timothée throws himself on the worn out couch with a sigh, sprawling his legs and stretching out his arms. It´s still midday, he has three more hours of work to face, but his body and his mind are begging for some rest. He closes his eyes for a couple of seconds, takes in a couple deep breaths and then forces himself up, walking to his locker so he can get his lunch. He unwraps a sandwich, takes a couple bites of it and sits back down on the couch, his eyes wandering to the door as Maxence shows up.

"Will you ever sit down with the rest of us at the cafeteria?"

"Maybe one day, but I really need to stay in this couch for a couple minutes or I might not make it through the next three hours."

"Tough night?" He asks while taking a seat at the edge of the couch, watching as Timothée shrugs. "Everything okay between you and Armie? He didn´t seem very happy to see us together and I don´t want to cause any kind of trouble between you two."

"Armie is going through some problems, but you and I hanging out is definitely not one of them."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure."

"Okay," he says softly, almost in a whisper. As he goes quiet, eyes wandering through the rather dusty room, Maxence can feel Timothée´s eyes on him, which causes him to look up, a confused look on his face. "What?"

"How do you know Armie, Maxence?"

"I´ve told you already, we..."

"Cut the crap, alright? I´m not stupid, I can tell there´s more to this story and I would like you to tell me."

"Why don´t you ask him?"

"Normally I would, but I don´t think this is the time to do so."

Maxence sighs, shrugging his shoulders. "Armie and I went to the same high school, we had a few classes together, but we were never friends or anything. It wasn´t unusual to bump into him on parties or at the skate park, he and his friends were quite popular, so they were everywhere."

"And?"

"And what?" Timothée shoots him a look and Maxence sighs, shrugging his shoulders. "Timothée, I seriously don´t know what you want me to say."

"You´re telling me nothing happened during high school? Because I can sense some kind of tension when you talk about him, so don´t sugarcoat anything, just tell me what happened."

"I had a crush on your boyfriend, that´s what you wanna hear?"

"Did he know?"

"You see, I never actually told him that I had feelings for him, but I might have tried to kiss him once while completely wasted and made a fool of myself."

"You and Armie kissed?"

"I said I tried, he pushed me away before I had the chance, leaving me so embarrassed I never even tried to apologize for the incident. After that night, it was always a bit awkward when we crossed paths, which ironically happened a lot."

Timothée laughs, shaking his head as Maxence stares at him with a frown. "I´ll be honest with you, for a moment I feared something really bad had happened between you two."

"Don´t worry, dude, your boyfriend might be one of the coolest guys out there. He could have punched me, yelled at me or whatever, but he simply pushed me away and told me to go get some air."

"And to think for a moment he got jealous of us," Timothée says with a chuckle. "Maybe I should be the one to keep an eye on you."

"No need for that, I´ve moved on."

"So you have a boyfriend?"

"Yes, but he´s in France for a school exchange program until next year."

"Jesus...I can´t imagine myself living that far away from Armie."

"It´s not easy, but it has always been his dream, all I could do was support him."

"It feels good to have someone we can rely on, right?"

"It does. Axel has helped me a lot in the two and a half years we´ve been together, he is my best friend and I couldn´t have asked for a better person in my life."

Timothée nods, a cheeky grin on his face. "I know the feeling."

  
  
  


****************

  
  


It´s almost seven, the sun is setting and the sky has been taken over by a mix of orange and dark blue. Walking slowly down the sidewalk, Timothée has his hands in his pockets and his eyes wandering around the neighborhood that has become so familiar. Kids already recognize him whenever he is around, waving and smiling wide as he passes them by; older ladies give him warm smiles and some teenage girls around his age always giggle and whisper when he walks by. As the days go by, he feels more at home there than he ever felt at his own place.

He looks up as he reaches Armie´s place, frowning when he notices the garage door is open and the lights are on. Walking in there the previous night and seeing Armie had destroyed most of his paintings was scary, all he asks for now is that he doesn´t have to see any of that again. Armie looked a lot better when he left in the morning and the texts they exchanged throughout the day seemed to indicate an improvement of his mood, even if Timothée knows things won´t be solved that easily. Until Armie actually sits down to talk to his mother and his father, Timothée doubts he will in fact be fine.

He knocks on the door, pokes his head in and smiles softly as Armie turns around to face him. He is wearing the same exact clothes from when Timothée left, now a bit worn out and stained with ink, but Timothée tries not to pay much attention to that right now. He is cleaning the garage, putting aside the things that weren´t as damaged and throwing away what can´t be fixed. It´s truly heartbreaking to see such beautiful art work be thrown away, but Timothée knows Armie has his whole life ahead of him to paint even more beautiful things.

"Hey, how was it with Zac?"

"It was alright. We played some video games and talked a little bit."

"And how was work?"

"Tiring and yet a bit boring," Timothée says with a shrug as he walks in, closing the door behind him. "How are you?"

"Is the sixth time you´ve asked me this question today," Armie says with a chuckle.

"And your answers remains the same?" Armie nods and Timothée bites on his lip, trying not to look worried or anything. He knows Armie needs his help right now, but he also knows it doesn´t help much to have someone over protecting you. He tries to smile, wraps his arms around Armie´s neck and lets his thumb rub against his hair. "Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"

"Being here is enough."

"Are you sure?" He asks while looking around the room. "I can help you clean this up."

"I was about to stop, actually. Maybe we could go inside and eat something? Lois made some lasagna before she left, she said she would leave some on the oven for us."

"Oh, I love lasagna and maybe we could eat it while watching a movie? It might help clear your mind."

Armie smiles through a sigh, leaning his forehead against Timothée´s. His hands slide down his body to his hips, pulling him as close as possible.

"God, what have I done to deserve you? You´re the best thing that has ever happened to me, Timmy, I couldn´t be more grateful for everything you´re doing."

"Armie, you´re such a special person and you deserve nothing but love." Armie simply shakes his head and Timothée smiles, leaning on his toes to kiss him. "Can we go inside now? I´m starving and we still need to choose what movie we´re gonna watch."

"Tonight you choose."

"Really?" Armie nods and Timothée smirks, taking his hands in his as he leads him out of the garage.

"Hey, Tim?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

Timothée smiles, nodding his head.

"I love you, too."


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If life could just stop for a moment.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 36**

  
  
  


**//now_playing//** _ Wonderwall - Oasis _

 

The music plays low as the moon illuminates the bedroom, creating patterns on the floor and on their semi naked bodies. With their legs tangled and sheepish smiles on their lips, Armie and Timothée lie awake in bed, fingers tracing each other´s skin and causing pleasant goosebumps that cause all the hair on their bodies to stand. 

Armie stares at Timothée with adoration filled eyes, his finger carefully tracing every little freckle in his nose before he leans closer to kiss them, smiling wide as he hears Timothée´s giggles. He tucks a few curls behind his ear, all the worries in the world suddenly disappearing as Timothée stares back into his eyes and shows him the most genuine and beautiful smile he has ever seen. 

If he could, he would stay in that bed for the rest of his life and forget about everything else. Just him and Timothée, which is everything he really needs.

As Timothée´s hand slides down his back, Armie closes his eyes for a brief second and takes in a deep breath, his touch so delicate and warm. He opens his eyes, leans closer and presses their foreheads together, his thumb slowly caressing Timothée´s cheek. Armie moves his hand, tangling his fingers on his dark curls while he pulls him in for a heated and passionate kiss, losing himself in Timothée´s taste and silky lips.

Timothée wraps his arms tightly around Armie´s neck, a soft moan escaping him when Armie rolls them around on the bed and hovers on top of him. Armie´s large hand finds his hip and roughly pulls him closer, their crotches rubbing together with every breath they take. He arches his back slightly, slides his hand down Armie´s back and inside his underwear, squeezing and scratching his ass. 

He presses his thighs against Armie´s body, leans his head back and bites hard on his lip as he slides down his now sweaty body, laying wet kisses all over his chest. When his fingers sneaky into his underwear and pull them down slowly, Timothée has to take deep breaths, his cock already hard as a rock.

Armie smiles up at Timothée, loving to see his glazed eyes and flushed cheeks, not to mention his red lips, which he bites and licks repeatedly.  Without ever breaking eye contact, his fingers wrap around Timothée´s cock and he strokes it as slowly as he possibly can, feeling it twitch and grown against his palm. He smirks as Timothée moans get louder, his hips pushing deeper into his fist, demanding for more.

Armie leans down to give a quick lick, watching as Timothée´s whole body trembles at his touch. He has had a fair amount of sex in his life, none of them he would consider dull, but nothing ever came close to what he feels when it´s with Timothée. Every little touch, kiss and bit of skin that rubs together, sends shivers down his spine that almost feel like he has been hit by lightning. 

Timothée closes his eyes, a loud moan escaping him when Armie engulfs his cock, his tongue swirling around the sensitive head. He trashes around on the bed, his breathing short and the sweat coating his entire body. He reaches down, fingers sliding to Armie´s head and gripping on his short hair, guiding his speed.

He lets out a sigh of contentment, a smile plastered on his lips as he feels his body fire up and his toes curl. He arches his back, hears the faint sounds of gagging and nearly loses it, the eroticism of it all bringing him over the edge. From his lips, Armie´s name comes out repeatedly and when he is nearly about to shoot, he feels Armie´s mouth leave his cock.

Armie chuckles as Timothée leans on his elbows, a look of desperation in his eyes. He winks, pulls his own boxers down and climbs on his body, lips leaving kisses in every bit of skin he can find. He sticks two fingers inside his mouth, wetting them before reaching in between them to rub against Timothée´s hole. He smiles at the look on his face, how quickly his cheeks turn bright red and leans down, capturing him a sweet and loving kiss.

He pushes some curls back while Timothée tightly wraps his legs around his hips, urging him to get even closer. Armie smiles, buries his face in the crook of Timothée´s neck and guides his cock inside of him, their moans filling the air. Is an indescribable feeling to be inside of him, feel his heat and hear while his name becomes a symphony in his lips. 

They move in synchrony, Timothée pushing forward whenever Armie drawns back, their flesh hitting against one another and the sweat coating their bodies more and more every second that goes by. Timothée´s nails drag through Armie´s skin, his teeth bites hard onto his shoulder and when Armie buries himself inside of him, he throws his head back and moans loud.

Armie smiles, leans their foreheads together and grabs onto his hair, pushing deeper and faster a couple more times, feeling his orgasm build up slowly. He hears Timothée whimper, wraps his fist around his cock and jerks him off quickly, drops of precum coating his fingers in less than a minute. 

It doesn´t take them much longer to find themselves gasping for air, their bodies trembling from head to toe. Armie pulls out of Timothée quickly, his hand now wrapped around both of their cocks, stroking them as quickly as he possibly can, even if he barely has any strength left. Timothée is the first one to grunt and feel his body tense up, semen coating Armie´s hand and their stomachs. Armie follows seconds later, eyes closed and a soundless gasp as he feels himself explode, his own semen joining in on the mess they have done.

Their eyes meet for a brief second, wide smiles appearing on their faces before Armie collapses on top of Timothée, who wraps his arms tightly around his body and closes his eyes, an expression of pure happiness plastered on his face.

  
  
  


*******************

  
  
  


**//now_playing//** _ Losing My Religion - R.E.M. _

 

There were a couple of things about Armie that were instantly attractive to Timothée, his bright smile and the glow in his eyes when he talked about something he liked were the main ones, which had taken a step back after everything that happened with his family. It wasn´t easy for Timothée to see Armie without that glow, or notice how hard it was for him to actually smile the last three days, despite how much he had tried. 

So as he sits on the top of the kitchen counter, legs swinging back and forth, and watches as Armie sings along to the music, his body moving from side to side, Timothée can´t contain a bright smile from taking over his face. This is the man he loves, and he is overcoming his issues, taking the weight out of his shoulders and allowing himself to be the person he always wanted to be.

Timothée laughs when Armie slides across the kitchen towards him, his hands sliding up his thigh while he snuggles himself in between his legs. He leans in to kiss him, arms wrapping around his neck and thumb stroking his nape softly. They pull away with smiles on their faces, Armie reaching out for a piece of bacon, which he takes a bite of and then gladly feeds to Timothée.

"I have to say, you´re getting a lot better in this whole cooking thing, Armie."

"I have always been a good cook, Timothée."

"Well, that´s not true. Let´s start with the fact you´re a picky eater and..."

"Okay okay, you´ve made your point."

"I haven´t even started." Armie shoots him a look and Timothée chuckles, pecking his lips quickly. "Fine, you´ve been through enough already, you don´t need me whining about your culinary skills."

"Specially since I am always the one cooking in between the two of us."

"I don´t feel comfortable cooking in other people´s houses."

"You basically live here by now, Tim."

"That has a bit of truth to it, but it´s a lot more complicated and we both know it."

"Fuck," Armie mumbles as he shakes his head, his hands sneaking inside Timothée´s uniform shirt and gently rubbing his stomach. "I´ve been so caught up on my own shit, I didn´t even ask if you have talked to your mom lately."

"I text her every day, she doesn´t always answer, but when she does, she says she is okay. I think I´m gonna stop by the house after work and try to talk to her, see how she´s doing for real."

"You´re sure is a good idea?"

"I have to see her, Armie."

"Then I´ll go with you."

"No, you´re not." Timothée smiles, framing Armie´s face with his hands. "Thank you for even offering, but after what happened with my father, I don´t feel comfortable taking you with me to the house. Seeing us together is only gonna make him angrier and we don´t need that right now, okay?"

"But what if he tries something against you?"

"Armie, it will be easier to deal with him if it´s just me. And I know you´re just worried about my well being, but trust me that I will do my best to avoid him, okay?"

"I trust you."

"Good, now how about we actually have breakfast? Because I need to leave for work in a couple of minutes and I am starving."

"Of course," Armie helps him out of the counter and pulls on one of the stools for Timothée, smiling as he giggles. He reaches for the stack of pancakes by the stove and places it on the counter, along with the bread and bacon. 

He takes a seat beside Timothée, his right hand instantly resting on his thigh as he pours himself some coffee and watches as Timothée prepares himself a plate. Armie smiles to himself, feeling the pain slowly subside inside of him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I´m okay."

"What´s with the smile?"

"I´m feeling a lot better today, Tim, mostly thanks to you."

"I didn´t do anything other than being by your side, Armie."

"That´s more than most of my family is doing, to be honest. My brother hates me, my father is full of prejudice and my mom, well the poor woman is struggling with her own things, I can´t really demand much from her."

"I still think you should talk to her, you know?"

"I will, I just want to feel a bit better."

"Count on me, I´m here for whatever you need."

"I know," he smiles while sliding his hand to Timothée´s face, pulling him in for a kiss. 

They go through breakfast mostly in silence, stealing quick glances at each other and chuckling whenever they get caught by the other, but their hands are constantly seeking out for the other´s touch. By the time they are done and all the dishes are washed, Timothée rushes to grab his backpack and his phone, checking the time to make sure he is on time.

"You want a ride? The car is not here, but my bike is not that bad."

"You stay here and finish getting the garage cleaned up, I´ll take a walk to work, it´s no big deal."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure." He winks and leans in to kiss Armie, just as the doorbell rings. Armie groans, but Timothée still manages to place a quick kiss on his lips before they make it to the door, eyes widening as they come face to face with Julia.

"Mom?"

"Hey, I hope I´m not interrupting anything."

Timothée looks from her to Armie and smiles, opening the door wider for Julia to come in. "You´re not interrupting anything, Mrs. Hammer. I was just about to leave for work actually, so you guys can have the house for yourselves and talk."

"Thank you," she says with a smile. "How are you, Timothée?"

"I´ve been doing well, thanks to this guy."

Julia smiles, her eyes wandering from Timothée to Armie, who sighs. "I´m glad to hear that, Timothée."

"I really have to go now, but I hope you guys can talk things through."

"We will," Armie assures Timothée, tucking a few strands of her behind his ear. "Now go before you get late."

"I´ll see you later."

"See ya."

Julia smiles, watching the exchange between the two of them and waves Timothée goodbye before following Armie inside the house, a sigh escaping her.

"I´m glad you have him, Armie."

  
  
  


***************

  
  


Timothée stops by the door, a sigh escaping him as he replays the last time he was inside that house, the agony and fear he felt. He dealt with his father´s abuse for years, learned how to masquerade the scars, bruises and became an expert liar, but when he saw his father threaten to do that to Armie, that´s when Timothée was most afraid in his entire life. Afraid of losing Armie.

He shakes his head, trying to push back those thoughts and reaches for the handle, opening the door slowly. He pokes his head inside, sees nothing but an empty living room and steps in, eyes automatically wandering through every single corner of the house. His mom is by the kitchen and it takes less than a minute for her to notice him, a smile appearing on her face, despite the worry in her eyes.

Eleanor drops the cloth on the sink and runs over to Timothée, wrapping her arms around him as tight as she possibly can. She buries his face against her neck, her fingers stroking through his curls as she hums on his ear. A couple of tears escape her and she wipes them away quickly, pulling away so she can look at Timothée, who smiles sweetly at her.

"I´ve missed you, kid."

"I´ve missed you too, mom." he cradles her face, his thumb wiping away any remaining tears. "How are you?"

"I´m alright."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. What about you? How are things going?"

Timothée shrugs, his smile dropping a little. "Things have been complicated, but I´m doing fine."

Eleanor can easily see in Timothée´s eyes that he is worried about something, which causes her to feel a pain in her chest. She sighs, takes his hand and leads him to the kitchen, pulling a chair for him to sit. She moves around the kitchen, reaches for a jar of cookies and then two glasses, placing them all on the table before getting some iced tea on the fridge.

"Wanna tell me what happened?"

"Actually, Armie is the one with problems right now," he says while pouring them some tea. "He just found out his parents are getting a divorce and his brother is blaming him for it."

"Why would he do that?"

"Remember when I told you Armie got emancipated when he was sixteen?" Eleanor nods while taking a few sips of her tea. "Well, his brother has a lot of resentment over what happened, he thinks Armie doesn´t care about him, about any of them, so instead of actually acknowledging the family issues and the mistakes of his parents, he chose to blame him."

"And how is Armie dealing with all of this?"

"Not good. Actually, he is better now, but I think it will take a while for him to get back to his old self. His mom showed up by the house when I left for work and judging by the messages he sent me, things went well, but I am not sure this is enough."

"I hate to hear that, Tim. Armie is such a loving and sweet person, he doesn´t deserve to go through something like this, have his own brother blame him for things he has no control over."

"That´s the worst part, mom. As much as he tries, and I know he is trying, there is a part of him that thinks his brother is right." Timothée sighs, shaking his head. "You have no idea how much it pains me to see him this way, thinking so low of himself, questioning everything he has ever done. I wish I could help him more, but there´s nothing I can do."

Eleanor reaches out for Timothée´s hand, squeezing it softly as he tries to smile. "Timothée, I know better than anyone how painful it is to see our loved ones in pain, but keep in mind that your support and love is everything he needs right now. You don´t know what to do? That´s okay, because you´ll learn together."

"I´m making sure he knows that I´ll always be here for him."

"He´s lucky to have you, Timothée."

"I´m lucky to have him, mom."

Eleanor nods, her face turning serious all of a sudden, which causes Timothée to arch an eyebrow. He leans forward, lifts up her chin and makes her face him, his eyes searching for some answers.

"What´s going on, mom? Why you got that look upon your face?"

"There´s something I´ve been meaning to tell you, Timothée, something I´ve been thinking of for the past few days."

"Mom, you know you can tell me everything."

"I´m afraid you´ll hate me for this, but I need you to know that this is for your own good. Okay?"

"Mom, what the hell is going on?"

"Timothée, I need you to stay away from this house."

"I´m sorry?"

"I don´t want you to come here anymore."

Timothée scoffs, shaking his head. "You´re joking, right?"

"No, I´m not. I need you to pack as much as you can today and leave without looking back."

"You´re kicking me out of our house? You´re siding with him after everything that he has done to us?"

"No," Eleanor shakes her head,  trying to reach out for Timothée, who pulls away from her. "Timothée, I´m doing this for you, because I can´t see you in pain any longer. My mistakes, my selfishness has caused terrible things to happen with us, but I should be the only one paying for those mistakes."

"What are you talking about?"

"Timothée, it´s not fair that you remain a target. I tried many times to protect you from Matthew, I´ve tried to talk some sense in his head, but he´s not gonna change and it´s not fair that you keep on suffering for things you´re not guilty of."

"Mom, you don´t deserve the beatings and the manipulation he puts you through."

"Neither do you, Timothée, and as your mother is my duty to protect you, which is something I´ve failed. But I´m not gonna let him hurt you any longer, okay? I need you to understand how painful it is for me to do this, but I know there will be people out there taking care of you. You have Zac, you have that girl Lois and most importantly, you got Armie, who so far has made a better job taking care of you than I have all your life."

"Mom..."

"Timothée, I need you to do what I am asking you."

"I can´t leave you here all alone, mom." Eleanor shrugs her shoulders and Timothée bites his lip, trying to fight back his tears. "Let´s pack our stuff and get the hell out of here together, mom."

"And where do we go? How do we survive?"

"We´ll figure something out."

"No. I have put you through enough already, I can´t have you jumping from place to place because of me. If we run away, he will get angrier and he will come after us."

"What makes you think he will come after me?"

"I´m his favorite punching bag, Timothée, as long as I´m here he won´t look for you."

"I can´t lose you, mom."

"Baby, this is not a goodbye, I won´t give in that easily."

"Let me help you. Armie´s family is rich and they know a lot of people, I am sure they can find someone to help you and..."

"Armie has his own problems to deal with, Tim. Besides, I´m not gonna put all this weight on his shoulders, I couldn´t bare to have another teenage life ruined because of me."

"You didn´t ruin my life, mom."

"I also didn´t protect it as I should."

"So that´s it? I won´t see you anymore?"

"You can keep on texting me, but I beg you not to come around here anymore."

"This is not fair."

"Timothée, you´re seventeen years old, you have your whole life ahead of you and I will do anything to make sure it´s a happy and healthy one, even if it means not seeing you anymore."

"This is not the end."

"No, it´s not."

"I wish we didn´t have to do this."

"Me neither, kid, me neither." Eleanor sighs, pushes herself up and walks to Timothée, wrapping her arms around him as he leans his head against her stomach, his tears soaking up her shirt.

  
  
  


***************

  
  


Loud music comes from the pier as Armie locks his bike, his eyes wandering around the crowded beach. He sighs, a tingle of worry consuming him as he takes off his sneakers and wanders through the sand, stopping only when he reaches the lifeguard stand. He leans against the wooden structure, eyeing Timothée up and down for a good minute before he actually walks up the ramp.

As Timothée looks up at him, squinting his eyes because of the sunlight, Armie manages to smile despite the clear sadness he sees on his face. He doesn´t speak a word though, perfectly aware that most times Timothée rather be in silence, seek strength and comfort from his presence instead of his words. He sits down, arm instantly wrapping around his shoulders, bringing him closer to him while placing a soft kiss on his hair.

Armie looks down as Timothée´s fingers find his and he intertwines them together, his nose brushing against his skin, which makes him chuckle. As he sees a hint of a smile on the corner of his lips, Armie allows himself to relax a little bit more; considering how worried he was of Timothée being face to face with Matthew again, seeing that he isn´t hurt is already a positive thing.

"How was it with your mom?"

Timothée´s voice is low, almost too low to be heard in the crowded beach, but Armie still manages to understand him.

"It was painful, but necessary." He admits, letting out a heavy sigh. "She told me she always knew my father had lovers, but she always put her family first and never said a word about it, because she thought that´s how she would keep us all together. She also told me they started fighting more often once I left, partially because he thought she was the blame for it, but also because for once she also wanted to be heard."

Armie stops for a moment, suddenly the image of his crying mother sitting across from him flooding his head. For years his mother had been impassive, keeping everything buried deep inside of her, which often made him think wrongly of her, but now she was finally showing her true self. And sadly, her true self was in more pain than he could have ever imagined.

"She decided to see a psychologist about four months after I left, since she knew she needed someone to talk to and no one inside that house would listen. It was because of the psychologist that she actually started contacting me again, trying to seek out a new type of relationship. If I only knew the things she was going through, I wouldn´t have taken the time I took to actually talk to her and listen to what she had to say."

"You´re doing it now," Timothée says softly, while sitting up straight. "That´s all that matters."

Armie nods slowly, tucking a curl behind Timothée´s ear. "What about you and your mom? How did it go?"

"It was good...for a second."

"What happened?"

"She kicked me out of the house."

"I´m sorry, what are you talking about?"

"Okay, she didn´t kick me out, it was a lot more painful than that." Timothée sighs, eyes roaming around the beach for a second before he looks back at Armie, tears already filling his eyes. "She asked me to stay away from the house, because that´s the only way she can keep me safe from my father. She claimed that she failed to protect me all these years, so as much as it hurts her now, she needs to do this."

"Jesus..."

"We didn´t get into details, but I think after my father found out about us, things have gone worse inside that house, that´s why she wants to keep me away from her."

"Not from her, from him."

"What difference does it make? Because of him now I can´t even see my own mother, Armie. This is insane and yet, I don´t know what we could do to change this around anytime soon."

Armie cradles Timothée´s face and leans their foreheads together, his thumb stroking his skin slowly. He tries to smile, show Timothée some kind of reassurance that things will be okay soon, but he knows he needs more than that.

"Hey, I know everything sucks right now and that you might feel hopeless again, but if you let me help you, I know we can achieve something that will make a difference on this whole situation."

"What are you talking about, Armie?"

"The day I found out about my parents divorce, I was at the house because I was going to ask my mom for help."

"What kind of help?"

"You might hate for this, but I told her everything you and your mom go through with Matthew," Armie can see Timothée´s eyes widen as he pulls away and sighs. "Timothée, the one good thing about all the money and prestige my family has, is that we know a lot of people, influential people and that could change this whole situation."

"I don´t... I don´t get it."

"My mom is gonna talk to her friends, we´re gonna get you and your mother the best lawyer she can find, Timothée. We´re not gonna let your father destroy your lives any more than he has already done, do you hear me? I´m with you and I´m gonna be with you throughout this whole thing, but now we´re gonna do it the right way."

Timothée remains in silence, tears streaming down his face as he feels his hands shake and his breathing get shallower. He looks at Armie, bites on his lip and nearly throws himself on top of him, tightly wrapping his arms around his body as he buries his face in the crook of his neck. 

For years Timothée doubted he could ever make it out of this alive, now he had someone like Armie fighting beside him. Now he had hope, even if he knew it would never be easy.

  
  


***************

  
  
  


Timothée remained quiet most of their ride back home, which Armie could easily understand, but doesn´t mean that made things easier. He lives for the large and unabashed smile only Timothée can provide, finds courage in his kind eyes and peace in the way his cheeks flush whenever he laughs too much, but asking for any of that right now is too much. Armie knows how much Timothée loves his mother, how protective of her he is and now, now she is forcing him to stay away from her and that is killing him inside, even if they all know this might be the best for him right now.

Judging by how Matthew reacted when they saw them together, Armie can only imagine the kind of atrocities he would do if he came home drunk and found Timothée there, so even if it will leave him sad and broken right now, Armie can´t help but feel some kind of relief to know Timothée is safe inside his house. 

"What you say I cook us something and we sit down to watch a movie?"

"Sure, guess that would be nice."

"Hey," Armie smiles and cradles Timothée´s face. "I know right now you´re probably feeling like shit, but trust me when I say everything will be alright in the end. In a few years, you´ll look back at this day and it will be nothing but a memory, because both you and your mom will be together and happy."

"I never even said thank you."

"For what?"

"For talking to your mother and asking for help," Armie nods quietly and Timothée sighs. "I´ve told you many times to let me handle this whole situation by myself, but I think it´s time for me to admit that I might not be able to do it alone. It´s also time for me to understand that I shouldn´t be ashamed of asking for help, specially from people who really care about me."

"I´ve said it before, but I will say it again, I´ll always be here for you."

"And I love you for that."

"Now sit down and find something for us to watch, I´m gonna go prepare us something to eat, because I´m fucking starving."

Timothée lets out a soft chuckle, nods his head and places a kiss on Armie´s lips before heading to the living room, where he throws himself on the couch. His eyes wander around the rack across from him and he reaches for the dvd box, placing it on his lap as he goes through each one of them. 

He takes a quick feel looks over his shoulder at Armie, smiling softly as he watches him move around the kitchen fishing for ingredients. Is insane how there´s always something happening around them, how life never just stops and allows them to actually enjoy the time they have, but even through all the pain and suffering, whenever Timothée looks at Armie, all he can feel is love and peace. And that feels good, better than anything he has ever felt.

It takes him a couple of minutes to actually make up his mind on which movie to watch, but finally Timothée settles for a comedy, aware that anything else would just make him feel worse. He puts it on the dvd, sets up everything and gets up, joining Armie on the kitchen with a sheepish smile.

"Need any help here?"

"Oh, it´s nearly done."

"What has Chef Armand prepared for us tonight?"

Armie turns to Timothée, a little smirk plastered on his face. "An incredible mac and cheese, which will leave you completely in love with its texture and taste."

"Any chance this mac and cheese comes from a box?"

"Maybe."

Timothée chuckles, leaning his head against Armie´s shoulder, a smile coming to his lips as he kisses his forehead. "It smells quite good, actually."

"Because even though it comes from a box, I´ve added my special ingredients."

"Please don´t say it´s love. I might not be on my best tonight, but that shit is way too lame."

Armie chuckles, lifting his chin to place a kiss on his lips. "No, it wasn´t love."

"Good."

"Can you grab the bowls for me?"

Timothée nods, reaching for the bowls at the cupboards and handing them Armie, who fills them up. He takes one on his hand and follows him back to the couch, where they sit down, Armie leaned against the arm while Timothée nestles himself in between his legs. 

Armie reaches for the remote, presses play and takes a few bites of his mac and cheese, eyes constantly roaming back to Timothée, who eats in silence. He smiles at himself and pulls him even closer to his body, winking as Timothée looks at him over his shoulder.

They both turn to the front door as it opens, waving at Lois as she drags herself inside and leans against the wall with a sigh. Armie arches an eyebrow and she simply shakes her head, shutting him down before he even has the chance to say anything at all.

"There´s mac and cheese on the stove, Lois."

"Thanks guys, I´m gonna get some and just seclude myself on my bedroom, so you guys don´t have to worry about me."

"You can join us if you want," Timothée says while bending his legs to create more room on the couch. "We just started the movie."

"I don´t wanna be a third wheel." Lois winks while taking a few bites, a sigh escaping her afterwards.

"Stop whining and just join us, Lois."

Lois looks from them to the tv, watching as Jim Carey shows up on the screen and shrugs, quickly making her way over and throwing herself down on the couch, Timothée´s legs instantly on her lap.

"So, what´s new with you guys?"

"I´m homeless," Timothée says as she looks at him with wide eyes. "It´s a long story, I´ll tell you later."


	37. Chapter 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Silver linings.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 37**

  
  
  
  


**< timmy>** _ hey mom, its been almost a week _

_ i miss u _

_ i hope we can get together soon _

_ please let me know how u doing _

 

Timothée stares down at the small screen of his phone, anxious for an answer he knows is not coming, at least not for now. He sighs, shakes his head and places the phone back inside his pocket, his foot kicking the door close behind him. His eyes wander around the empty living room as he walks to the kitchen, placing the paper bags down on the counter, just as the sweet and melodic sound of Armie´s guitar fills the air. 

He smiles at himself, the comforting music seeming almost like a hug to his soul, which comes in hand when he can´t help but worry about his mother almost every second of the day. He takes a deep breath, tries his hardest to push back any negative thoughts and walks down the hallway, a wide smile spreading across his face as he leans against the threshold to watch Armie.

It takes Armie a moment to actually see him, but once he does, he stops immediately, his blue eyes locked on his. Timothée winks at him, closes the door behind him and throws himself on the bed, his legs overlapping Armie´s. He sighs heavily, reaches out for Armie and takes the joint from in between his lips, taking a quick drag of it before leaning in to kiss his lips.

"How´s Zac?" Armie asks while stealing back the joint, a smirk on his face as Timothée pouts.

"Stressed as fuck," Timothée says with a chuckle while snuggling himself in between Armie´s legs. "He keeps saying he is not prepared for this at all and that he will end up making a fool of himself tomorrow."

"What about you? Are you stressed too?"

Timothée shrugs, a smile on his lips as he feels Armie´s nose brushing against the skin of his neck. "I´m a little nervous, that's for sure, but I think it will kick in when I´m actually up there and they call out my name, you know?"

"I know it can be nerve wracking, but I also know you have a lot of potential and you´ll do great tomorrow."

"You have so much faith in me."

"That´s because I know the kind of skateboarder you are, Tim. You´re super talented and this can open a lot of doors for you, have you thought about that?"

"A little bit, but then I stop and realize I don´t even know what I want to do with my life." He sighs, his hands sliding down Armie´s arms as he leans to the side so they can actually look at each other. "I´m turning eighteen this year, Armie, shouldn´t I have a clue of what I want for my future?"

"I´m about to turn twenty one and all I got is a little job at a record store, Tim. I love art, but I have no clue if I can make a living out of it, if I am good enough to follow this path. Truth is, people expect things to magically change once you turn eighteen, like every problem you ever had will be fixed and all your questions will have an answer, but I think it´s the complete opposite."

"I don´t know if I can handle more questions than the ones I already have."

Armie chuckles, tucking a curl behind his ear. "What I am trying to say is, life is pretty hard, but different for each and every one of us. It´s okay if you don´t know what to do right now, because you might wake up tomorrow and figure out what you wanted was always right in front of you. But it´s also okay if it takes you ten or twenty years to figure that out, Tim, because that´s your life and only you can decide the way you should live it."

Timothée can´t help but let a large and proud smile to take over his face, a glow in his eyes as he stares at Armie, who looks down at him with a cocked eyebrow. He chuckles, his hand sliding over to his neck and pulling him down for another quick kiss.

"What?"

"Your art is beautiful and I´ve finally figured out why."

"Why?"

"Because of how you see the world and the people around you. I know just like I don´t always see potential in me, you have a hard time accepting that you are indeed an artist, but the way you accept and embrace people, how you are always trying to help others and lift them up, that translates to your art and that´s what makes it so great."

"Great, but unfinished, what´s the point?"

"You´ve finished at least five paintings ever since we started dating, I´ve seen them come to life and I know how great they are, Armie. Maybe you need more time to see it for yourself, but I know eventually you´ll embrace that side of yours and you might be surprised at how far it can take you."

Armie nods, a serious look on his face as Timothée stares at him in silence. He sighs, a little smile twitching on the corner of his lips as he swings a leg over Timothée´s hips and rolls over, hovering on top of him, who simply laughs.

"What? You done having a deep and meaningful conversation?" Timothée mocks, wrapping his arms around Armie´s neck. He smirks as Armie nods and buries his face in the crook of his neck, his nose tickling him while he kisses and bites on the flesh of his shoulder. He runs his hand through his hair, which is slowly growing back, and then slides his hand down the side of his face, feeling a little bit of stubble tickle his palm. 

Timothée feels Armie´s hand slide down his sides, shivers running down his spine as he moans softly and brings Armie in for a kiss, his hands grabbing fistful of his shirt as he rolls them over on the bed so he can straddle Armie. He looks down at him with a smirk, pulls his shirt off of him and throws it to the ground, his lips immediately finding their place on Armie´s chest, which he kisses repeatedly while grinding their bodies together.

  
  
  


***************

  
  
  
  


Timothée wakes up with a sigh, his eyes closing abruptly as the sunlight hits him. He rubs his face, eyes wandering to the clock by the bedside table before he turns on his side, a large smile spreading across his face as he stares at a sleeping Armie. The sheets are long gone, exposing his naked body to Timothée, who can´t help but lick his lips. He got lucky, that´s for sure.

His fingers trace down Armie´s spine, circling the tattoo as he leans closer to place soft kisses down his shoulder blades, causing low moans to escape Armie. Timothée giggles, burying his face in the crook of Armie´s neck as he slides his hand down to his ass, squeezing it.

"Good morning to you too, Timmy."

"Good morning, handsome." He winks, places a soft kiss on Armie´s lips and chuckles as he rolls over on the bed, his arms holding him tight. 

"Ready for your big day?"

"Let´s not make this bigger than it is, Armie. I need to relax if I plan on actually accomplishing anything today."

Armie nods, tucking a curl behind Timothée´s ear. "Just know that no one is expecting anything from you, okay?"

Timothée frowns. "Is this supposed to be a pep talk? Because, you can do better than this, I´ve seen it before."

"What I mean is that no one is gonna be disappointed if you don´t win, Timothée."

Timothée nods, leaning his forehead against Armie´s while framing his face in his hands. "I love you."

"I know, I mean, why wouldn´t you?"

"Oh, fuck off."

Armie laughs, wrapping his arms around Timothée´s body, pulling him even closer. He pecks his lips a couple of times, moving it then to his cheeks, jaw and nose, a wide smile spreading across his face whenever Timothée giggles.

"I love you, too."

"Of course you do," Timothée mocks while jumping up from the bed, taking Armie´s hand in his. "Join me in the shower? I could use a back massage"

"That´s very tempting."

  
  
  
  


****************

  
  
  


The Sun is high up in the sky and there´s no clouds in sight, although a cool breeze hits from time to time, causing the streamers along the skatepark to swirl. The music coming from the speakers spread around the area is loud, mixing with the constant chatter of the more than a hundred people attending the event. 

There are professional skaters, teenagers who are just starting out and also some incredibly talented kids, who seem to know a lot more  maneuvers than some adults. It´s truly an exquisite place to find yourself in, which leaves Timothée both excited and terrified, although he has to admit the latter seems to be increasing more and more with each passing second.

As he stands there alongside Zac, he can feel his heart pounding inside his chest, not to mention the sweating of his hand, while a little voice screams that he should just turn around and walk away. Aware that his anxiety is taking the best of him, Timothée tries to remember Armie´s words and relax as much as he possibly can; he closes his eyes, takes a long and deep breath and then exhales, just as he feels Zac´s hand squeeze his shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

"I guess," he honestly answers, eyes wandering to Zac, who nods in understanding. "I knew this whole thing would leave me nervous, I just didn´t think it would be this much, you know?"

"Believe me, I know exactly how you´re feeling."

"You think we can do this? Like, actually do this and not embarrass ourselves?"

"Honestly?" Timothée nods and Zac smiles. "I think we are good enough to make a good impression on these guys, Tim. We might not win any prizes or anything, but that´s not really why we entered this competition, right?"

"Right, besides this can be a great opportunity for us to see if we actually have what it takes to make it professionally."

"You´ve been thinking about it?"

"Sometimes I do, but I have so much more going on that I can´t really find time to stop and think about this kind of stuff, you know?" Zac nods as Timothée sighs, scratching his neck. "I talked to Armie about this, he told me to relax and just let things happen, but I also have a hard time doing that. I want to solve everything and at the same time I don´t know where to begin."

"Yeah, you definitely need some days to just chill."

"I do chill, but normally when I´m doing this Armie is around and it doesn´t last very long."

Zac frowns, shaking his head. "And you can stop right there, because I don´t wanna hear about you guys fooling around."

"I wasn´t going to say anything."

"Yes, you were."

"No, I wasn´t."

"I could see it in your eyes, Timothée."

"Well, excuse me for having a hot boyfriend." He mocks as Zac rolls his eyes and makes a gagging noise. 

Timothée chuckles and shoves him back, just as he hears a familiar voice call out his name. He frowns, eyes wandering around the crowd until he spots Maxence, who´s walking towards him with a wide smile on his face. 

"Maxence?"

"Hey dude, I didn´t know you were competing," he says while engulfing Timothée in a hug. His eyes wander to Zac, who waves awkwardly at him before he reaches out to shake his hand. "Hi, I´m Maxence."

"I´m Zac."

"Oh, I´ve heard a lot about you."

"You did?"

"Not as much as I´ve heard about Armie, but you´re definitely second place."

"No one can top Armie," Zac says as Timothée smirks. "Please, don´t make jokes about this."

"I wasn´t going to," Timothée says in between laughter before turning to Maxence. "Sorry about that. Are you competing too?"

"Oh no. My friend works for one of the sponsors of the event and he asked if I wanted to help."

"It must be a cool job."

"It´s more running around then anything else, but it can be interesting."

"At least you get to meet new people."

"That´s definitely a plus," Maxence smiles, eyes wandering around the crowd. "I should go now, but I hope we can catch up later."

"Of course, I´ll see you around."

"It was nice to meet you, Zac."

"Likewise," Zac says with a nod. He watches him run over to another group of guys nearby and then turns his attention back to Timothée, who´s checking his phone. "Is this the guy Armie was jealous of?"

"Yep."

"Well, I can see why."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, he´s either very friendly or he has a bit of a crush on you."

"What? No, Maxence has a boyfriend."

"And when has that stopped anyone from having a crush on someone?"

"Zac..."

"Chill out, okay? A crush is no big deal, you don´t have to end your friendship with the guy. Besides, it´s pretty clear even he knows you´re crazy about Armie, so I think you´re safe."

"Why would you even say that?"

"What?"

"Now I´m gonna be wondering if he has a crush on me or not."

"Oh for the love of God, stop taking everything so seriously." Timothée shoots him a look and Zac rolls his eyes, wrapping his arm around his shoulders as he pulls him closer. "C´mon, forget about the french boy and lets take a look around this place."

"Only if you promise to keep your mouth shut the rest of the day."

"I´m not gonna make any promises."

"I hate you."

"No, you don´t."

"Yes, I do."

  
  
  


*****************

  
  
  


Timothée stands in the middle of the crowd, a large smile on his face as he watches Zac move along the ramp, knees perfectly bent as he prepares for a maneuver. He nearly holds his breath as he watches Zac do a flip, a sigh of relief escaping him when he lands perfectly and applause follows. He takes a quick look at his phone, biting his lip as he notices there´s no new messages from Armie, who was supposed to be there already, but tries to keep any negative thoughts away from his head and focus on Zac.

He cheers as he aces yet another maneuver, earning another round of applause from the jury, which might actually guarantee him a place on the next phase. His eyes wander around the crowd, searching for familiar faces, but all he can see is a sea of strangers, which to be fair does leave him a bit anxious. 

"He´s really good," a voice suddenly says beside him, causing Timothée to jump. "Shit, I didn´t mean to scare you."

"No, it´s okay," Timothée shakes his head while Maxence chuckles. "I was just a bit distracted, that´s all."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just a bit nervous. I´ve never been in a competition, so this is all new territory for me."

"I´ve been through a few and if you want my advice, just try to have as much fun as you can."

"That´s what everyone keeps saying."

"Besides, I might not know you for that long, but from what I´ve seen you are incredible."

"Thanks," Timothée smiles. 

"Where´s Armie?"

"That´s a great question," he says with a sigh. "He had to help his boss with something, but he promised me he would be here on time."

"Well, he seems like a man of his word."

Timothée smiles, about to answer Maxence when he feels arms slide across his waist and the soft touch of Armie´s lips on his neck. He chuckles and quickly turns around on his arms, his hands resting on Armie´s chest as he stares up at him.

"I was scared you wouldn´t make it."

"You actually thought I would miss this?" Timothée shrugs and Armie chuckles, pecking his lips. "You come first, Tim, you should know that by now."

"You and your words."

"All of them are true."

"Lucky me."

Armie chuckles and cradles his face, placing a soft and sweet kiss on his lips. He pulls away slowly, thumb brushing against his cheek as he licks his lips. His eyes wander over to Maxence, who awkwardly stands behind them, hands stuck in his pockets and eyes focused on Zac, who is finishing his run.

Timothée takes a quick look at Maxence, but quickly averts his eyes back to Armie and pulls his face closer, leaning their foreheads together. He smiles at him and places a couple of quick kisses on his lip, before taking a step back as his name is called.

"I have to go now."

"Go and show this people who really has some talent over here."

"And you try to behave."

"I´m always well behaved."

"I beg to differ."

"Just go," Armie says while pushing Timothée away.

"Keep your fingers crossed."

"You don´t need that."

"Thank you," he whispers and places one last kiss on his lips before reaching for his skate and running off to the main tent, where the judges are waiting for him.

Armie sighs, tucking his hands in his pockets as he watches Timothée from afar. He looks at Maxence from the corner of his eyes, taking a deep breath as he tries to build up the courage to actually address him.

"Hey, I wanted to say...," they say at the same time, a chuckle escaping them both afterwards.

"Go on," Maxence nods.

"I just wanted to apologize for the way I behaved the other day. It was really stupid of my part to not even acknowledge your presence and..."

"Dude, it´s okay. I might not know what is going on, but Timothée did tell me you are going through a hard time, so I get that you were not on your best."

"Still doesn´t give me the right to be a dick."

"Believe me, you were not a dick, it´s all good." Armie nods and Maxence sighs, scratching his head. "I also wanted to apologize for what happened when we were in school. I know it was almost four years ago, but I feel like owe you that."

"You don´t owe me anything, Maxence. It was a silly thing, nothing for you to worry about."

"You were very nice to me, because most guys would have freaked out and punched me in the face."

"There was no reason to do that," Armie shrugs and stands his hand out, a little smile on his face. "Are we good?"

"We´re good."

"Oh, also thank you for looking out for Timothée. He told me you´re basically the only one talking to him at the supermarket."

"Those guys have a hard time accepting new people and I know how it feels to be the new guy, so it´s not a big deal. Besides, your boyfriend is a cool guy."

"He is the best," Armie says with a smile, his eyes wandering to Timothée who´s just about to start his set.

  
  


****************

  
  
  


There´s an uproar as the judges gather around to announce the top three on the under eighteen category, the five boys who made it to the last run all lined up on the stage, apprehensive and yet excited looks in their eyes. Armie is standing between Maxence and Zac on the back of the crowd, his arms crossed above his chest while his foot keeps tapping on the ground. His eyes barely ever move from Timothée, a little smile twitching on the corner of his lips as he notices just how nervous he really is.

He made it to the top five, which was already a huge deal to him, but to be standing there waiting for his name to be called, knowing he could go home with not only a plaque but also a prize in money that could help him in the near future was a lot more than he had ever expected, and Armie knew it well. 

He hears the first name being called, then the second and finally they start calling out the top three, a wide smile spreading across Armie´s lips as Timothée´s name is announced as the second place. He whistles, claps as loud as he possibly can and starts chanting his name, soon followed by Zac and a laughing Maxence. 

From the stage, Timothée shakes his head, his cheeks turning a bright red, which only makes Armie smile wider. He gives one final scream as Timothée poses with his plaque, then rushes to the side of the stage, zigzagging through the crowd in front of him. When he sees Timothée rush down the couple of steps, Armie runs towards him, his arm wrapping around his slim waist and pulling him up as he swings him around.

Armie hears Timothée´s laugh echo, his hands instantly hold onto his shoulders for support and buries his face on his neck, his nose brushing against his warm skin.

"Armie, put me down, this is embarrassing."

"Embarrassing," he repeats while looking at Timothée, who nods.

"Everyone´s looking at us, just put me down."

Armie rolls his eyes, but puts Timothée down, his hands still holding onto his waist. They stare at each other for a moment, Timothée´s hands framing Armie´s face as he leans down to place a kiss on his lips.

"You were amazing," Armie whispers between pressed lips. "You deserved that first place."

"Second place and five hundred dollars is a lot more than I could have asked for, Armie."

"That´s true, not many people manage to do that on their first ever championship."

"Well, I have you to thank for that."

"Me? No, I have nothing to do with this, Tim, this is all about you and your talent."

"Maybe, but if you didn´t trust me the way you do, I probably wouldn´t even try."

"Nonsense."

"Accept the fact you changed my life, Armand."

"Oh stop with that shit," Armie says while cringing, causing Timothée to laugh. "If I stop talking will you stop calling me this way?"

"It´s your name."

"No one has to know."

"I know."

"And that´s enough."

Timothée rolls his eyes, wrapping his arms around Armie´s neck and pulling him in for a tight hug, his head resting on his shoulder. He sighs, Armie´s hand stroking his back as he places a kiss on his hair.

"I love you," Timothée whispers as he leans back to look at Armie, who nods.

"I love you too. Now, how about we get Zac and head over to the dinner so we can celebrate with everyone else?"

"That sounds like a good plan, actually."

Armie winks and takes his hand in his, leading him back to the spot where he previously was, where Zac and Maxence remain. He watches as Timothée and Zac share a tight hug, Zac playfully hitting Timothée´s chest and complaining about how he is always on his shadow, although Armie can tell he is just playing around. The look of pride in Zac´s face is probably as intense as his own.

As Maxence approaches Timothée, Armie can´t help but sigh, even though he knows this is stupid. They are friends and if he takes in consideration the fact he was the one Maxence once tried to kiss, Timothée should be the jealous one here. 

"We´re going to join our friends at the diner now, you wanna come with us Max?"

"Thanks, but I´m gonna pass."

"You should come," Armie says while wrapping his arm around Timothée´s shoulder. "Is gonna be fun."

"I bet it will, but I still have some things to do here, so maybe next time."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Tim, I´m sure."

"Okay then, I´ll see you at work."

"I´ll see you on Monday."

Timothée smiles, gives Maxence one more quick hug and then takes Armie´s hand back in his, leading him towards the parking lot as Zac trails behind. He chuckles as Armie pulls him back, wrapping him on his arms and placing a kiss on his forehead.

"Okay lovebirds, cut it out, I am not in the mood to be a third wheel."

"You already are," they say in unison as Zac rolls his eyes and walks past them, shaking his head.

  
  
  


***************

  
  
  


Armie wraps his arm around Timothée´s shoulder as they exit the diner, their fingers intertwined as Timothée leans his head closer to his chest. It has been a great night, filled with laughter and music, but Armie couldn´t help but notice that as the hours passed, Timothée grew more and more quiet until the point he was just sitting there along with them, barely even looking up from his own hand.

He stares down at him for a moment, a part of him actually thinking it´s best to just remain quiet and let Timothée deal with things his own way, but Armie can´t deny that his quietness and the way he is constantly internalizing his issues does scare him a lot. Even if it´s not an easy conversation, he rather hear about his dark thoughts then lose him for them, so as much as he tries, the words just seem to slip past his lips.

"You are awfully quiet for someone who was celebrating such an accomplishment."

"Huh?"

Armie chuckles, Timothée´s eyes wandering to him a bit confused. "What´s going on, Tim? You were pretty damn happy when we got here, but it seems like your mood dropped quite drastically as the night went on."

"What? No, I´m okay."

"C´mon, Tim."

Timothée sighs, tucking a curl behind his ear as Armie leans against the car, his hands resting on his waist as he pulls him closer to him. "I´m really happy and grateful for everything that happened, but it´s just... It´s not the same without my mom to share it with."

Armie nods, a hand moving to frame Timothée´s cheek, which he caresses gently. 

"I get it...I mean, I think I do. When I left home, even though it was my own decision to do so, I still felt quite lonely and confused. It was really weird, because while I was in that house, I never felt like it was my home, but then I left and I was in a new place and it didn´t feel like home either."

Timothée arches an eyebrow, surprised at the words he hears. While he knew Armie had always admitted he felt strange at his parent´s home, he never actually acknowledge the fact it wasn´t exactly easy for him to settle down for a new life. But then, he was only sixteen and Timothée should have guessed not everything was rainbows.

"The first few months, it wasn´t easy to come home from school and not see my brother lying on the couch watching tv like he always did. It was strange not to have my father walking around the house with all those files, or my mom screaming at me for not doing things the way she wanted me to do." He chuckles, shrugging his shoulders. "When I left, I thought things would be a lot easier for me, but it was painful and it took me a couple of months to recover myself, but it also took me distancing myself even further. I know, it doesn´t really make sense, but somehow I thought if I completely blocked that life out of me, it would be easier to settle down here and move on. I didn´t realize that by doing that, I wasn´t getting the freedom I wanted, I was walking away from my family."

"Why you never told me that?"

"I never told anyone."

"That´s why Viktor´s words hit you that hard, wasn´t it?"

Armie nods, looking down. "I didn´t know what else to do, you know? I left because I wanted to, it didn´t seem right to feel that way, so I kept it all locked inside and focused on graffiti and paintings that never even saw the light of day."

"Armie, you don´t need to hide yourself behind this strong and laid back facade. You are allowed to get hurt, to feel pain and make mistakes."

"I know that, but it wasn´t always easy to do it. Until I met you, a part of me thought that there were parts of me that shouldn´t be brought to light, but then I´ve learned so much with you and I want you to know me exactly as I am, so it´s easier now to let those demons out."

"I´m happy you feel comfortable sharing those things with me, allowing me and everyone else to see more of the real you, because in all honestly, you´re fucking great."

"So are you," he winks and places a kiss on his lips. "But the reason why I said all of this, is because I want you to know that it´s okay that you are hurting right now, it´s never gonna be easy to stay away from people you love. Just keep in mind that this is all gonna be over soon, you and your mother are gonna be free and you´ll have all the time in the world to be together. Unless when you´re with me, of course, because I demand at least five hours a day."

Timothée chuckles, hitting Armie´s chest. "Thank you. I know it´s gonna be hard, but I also know it must be ten times worse for her than it is for me."

"That´s true."

"Sorry if the night didn´t turn out the way you expected," Timothée says with a shrug as Armie shakes his head. "Let´s go home? Watch a movie, make out a little bit?"

"I don´t think the movie is necessary, we can skip straight to the make out bit."

Timothée nods. "I´m okay with that."

"Are you?"

"Yes, I am."

Armie chuckles, cupping his face and bringing him closer to him in a sweet kiss.


	38. Chapter 38

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The perfect Sunday?

**Venice Ink**

**Part 38**

  
  
  


Timothée lays kisses on the inside of Armie´s thighs, which are still trembling from his recent orgasm, a lazy smile plastered on his face as he hears the low moans that continue to escape him and fill the air. He looks at him from under his lashes, his fingertips sliding down his stomach, watching the goosebumps that fill his golden skin with immense pride. 

He bites on his lip when their eyes meet, the glow in Armie´s eyes something he will never get tired of. He leans down once more, kissing all over Armie´s stomach and chest before lying on top of him, his hands framing his cheeks. He kisses him softly on the lips, shivers running down his spine when Armie wraps his arms around his body and rolls them over on the bed, hovering on top of him.

He throws his head back when Armie nestles his face in between his neck, his wet lips tracing down his skin and his teeth sinking onto his shoulder blades. He moans softly, wrapping his legs around Armie´s hips and pressing his heels against his ass, pushing him closer. He could easily spend the entire day laying on that bed doing just that, basking in happiness and pleasure on Armie´s arms.

"This is the perfect Sunday morning," Timothée whispers.

"I know, right?"

"Think we can stay here for the rest of our lives? We´ll just ask Lois to throw the food inside."

"We can add a little food compartiment, like they do in prison."

Timothée laughs, hitting Armie´s chest as he shrugs, rolling to the bed. He sighs, nestling himself on Armie´s chest and wraps his arm around his waist, closing his eyes as he hears Armie humming on his ear.

"Actually, we should be getting up."

"No, we shouldn´t."

"We do, actually." Armie says while lifting Timothée´s chin. "I have a little surprise for you and I don´t want to be late."

"A surprise? Armie, what are you up to now?"

"Wow, you have very little faith in me, don´t you?"

"Well," he trails off as Armie gasps. Timothée rolls them over once again, straddling Armie´s thighs as he leans his hands on his chest. "What is the surprise?"

"If I tell you, it wouldn´t be a surprise, would it? Also, if you don´t get off of me right now, I´m not gonna control myself."

"Maybe that´s what I want."

"Stop it."

"Why? We were having so much fun."

"And we can have even more when we get back, now we really gotta get up and put on some clothes."

"Can we have breakfast first?"

"Nope," Timothée frowns as Armie sits up on the bed, careful not to drop him. "We´re having breakfast at the diner today and that´s part of the surprise, now get up and put on some clothes."

Timothée rolls his eyes and nods his head, hoping off of the bed and looking around the bedroom for his clothes. He looks over his shoulder for a brief moment, a smirk as he sees Armie staring up and down at his naked body.

"I thought we were supposed to get up and get ready?"

"Well, you can be very distracting," Armie says while reaching for Timothée and pulling him back to the bed, his lips immediately locking on his as Timothée wraps his arms around his neck.

  
  
  


****************

  
  


"You know," Timothée says in between bites of his eggs. "I don´t mean to sound ungrateful or anything, but your big surprise was having breakfast at the diner?"

"What? I thought you´d like getting out of the house and having a breakfast that wasn´t cooked by me or Lois for a change."

Timothée frowns, shaking his head as Armie chuckles and leans in to clean the corner of his lips. He smiles, reaching out for a quick kiss as he frames Armie´s cheeks on his hand.

"You´re cute, but you´re so lying to me."

"What?"

"I know you, okay? So, quit the crap and just tell me why exactly are we here."

Armie sighs, but nods his head anyway. He hears the door open, the little bell echoing through the diner and looks over at it, a smile on his face as he sees Eleanor walk in. He looks back at Timothée, who sits there with wide eyes and smiles, taking his hand in his.

"I know how much you´ve been missing her, so I thought I should try and help somehow."

"Armie..."

"I´ll be outside, you guys take your time. Okay?"

Timothée nods and watches as his mother sits down across from him, a smile on her face as she reaches out for Armie´s hand and squeezes it softly. He looks from her to Armie, a wide and thankful smile on his face as Armie winks at him.

"Hey kid, how are you?"

"I´m okay, mom."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. I got second place at the skate competition yesterday."

"Are you serious? Timothée, that´s amazing."

"It really was. I just wish you could have been there with me, you know? I think you´d be proud of me."

"I am proud of you, Timothée." Eleanor smiles, reaching out for Timothée´s hand, which she slowly strokes with her thumb. "What about you and Armie?"

"We´ve never been better, mom. He´s the sweetest person in the world, and I am so lucky to have him in my life, to have his support throughout everything I do."

"And your job?"

"It can be tiring and boring at times, but it´s alright. As long as I can get some money to save and help Armie and Lois in the house, that´s enough for me."

"I´m so sorry you have to go through this, son. I never meant to cause all this trouble in your life, I need you to understand that."

"Mom, this is not your fault."

"Of course it is, Timothée. I put you through this hell, but I promise you I will do my best to find a way out."

"About that," he says with a smile as Eleanor arches an eyebrow. "Armie talked to his mom and she is gonna try to help us get out of this situation, okay?"

"How?"

"Like he said, the perks of being part of a rich family is that they get to know a lot of people. She will find someone who can help us out of this whole mess, mom."

"I just want you to be safe, Tim, nothing else matters to me."

"You have to be safe too, mom." She nods and Timothée sighs, his eyes wandering through her face. "How are you? Has he done something to you the past couple of days?"

"That´s not important, Timothée."

"Of course it is. You´re my mother and I love you more than anything and anyone in the world, I care about you and I need to know how you´re doing."

"I´m doing fine, okay?"

"Mom..."

"Tim, I don´t want you to spend all your days thinking about me. I know it´s not an easy thing to ask, but you´re young and you have so much ahead of you, I need you to focus on yourself right now."

"I can do this once we´re both out of this situation."

"You´re so stubborn."

"Yes, I am." Timothée chuckles along with Eleanor and leans closer, tucking a couple strands of hair behind her ear. "I love you so much, mom."

"I love you too, son."

"Want some eggs and bacon? Armie´s paying."

  
  
  


******************

  
  
  


Timothée sits down on the floor of the lifeguard stand, his back against the wall and legs stand out in front of him while Armie lies on the floor, his head resting on his lap. His fingers stroke the bit of hair that is starting to grow on Armie, his eyes locked on the ocean, watching as the waves beautifully crash on the shore. He inhales deeply, closes his eyes for a brief second and then turns to look at Armie, who's got his legs bent and his sketchbook leaned against it while he draws. 

He can´t help but smile as he watches his fingers move swiftly through the paper, working the pencil from side to side to create tiny little details that are absolutely breathtaking. Timothée doubts he will ever get used to seeing how talented Armie really is, because it is something extraordinary and hopefully one day the whole world will get a chance to see it.

"It´s looking beautiful."

"It is?" Armie asks while tilting his head back to look him in the eye. "I am not so sure about the shadow work, but I kind of like it too."

"Kind of like it," Timothée repeats as he rolls his eyes. "It´s incredible, Armie, like everything you do."

"Thanks."

"Have you ever thought of actually going to art school? Because I´m pretty sure you´d be fucking awesome."

"I have, actually. I´m just not sure it´s the right time for it."

"Why not?"

"Honestly? I don´t know."

"C´mon, tell me."

"I´m serious. I feel like this could be something I´ll do in a couple of years, but right now I´m happy where I am, figuring out more about myself and what I truly want in life."

"And what is that?"

Armie takes in a deep breath, pushes himself up and places the sketchbook down, before turning to face Timothée. "Find the right tone for my art, so I can actually finish everything I set my mind to. Save money to pay it for myself, without actually needing to ask for my parent´s help. Maybe find a little place of my own, so I can give Lois a break and kiss you over and over again, for many many years."

Timothée chuckles, nodding his head. "I kind of like that last part."

"Kind of?"

"I mean, sure you´re a good kisser, but many many years? I don´t know, I might want to try out someone new."

Armie gasps, shaking his head as Timothée smirks. "How dare you even joke about something like this?"

"Who says I am joking?"

"Timothée..."

He laughs, wrapping his arms around Armie and pulling him closer, their lips locking in a sweet and long kiss. He pulls away slowly, forehead pressed against Armie´s as he smiles, his thumb stroking his cheeks.

"I like the sound of your plans, you know? And I love the kind of person you are."

"This is all thanks to you."

"No, it´s not. You´ve been this person your whole life, maybe after we met we both got to understand parts of ourselves we didn´t fully comprehend or even noticed, but the person you are has nothing to do with me."

"Okay, that was nice, I can deal with that."

"It was nice, right? God, I´ve been spending so much time with you that I´m learning your way with words."

"Glad I get to teach you a thing or two."

Timothée shrugs, pulling him for yet another kiss, this time a lot more sensual and long. He pulls away breathless, his cheeks slightly flushed as he sighs, feeling Armie´s fingers slide inside his curls.

"God, you´re so beautiful." Timothée chuckles as Armie shrugs. "What? You are."

"Well, have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror?"

  
  
  


***************

  
  
  


Armie places the brush down, his hand reaching for a clean cloth as he sighs and takes a seat on the stool, his eyes wandering through the canvas in front of him. He smiles a little, nodding at himself as he hears the door to the garage open and footsteps approaching him.

"I think it looks okay, what do you think?"

"It looks incredible, actually."

Armie arches an eyebrow at the sound of the voice and stands up immediately, turning to face his father, who stands right across from him. He eyes him up and down, not really sure of what to think at the moment, but trying to keep himself as positive as possible.

"What are you doing here, dad?"

"What is that boy doing at your house?"

Armie sighs. So much for staying positive.

"That boy has a name, it´s Timothée. And if you have any intentions of staying here for longer than this minute, you better show him some respect."

"You´re still keeping this up?"

"Keeping this up? He´s my boyfriend, dad, the person I chose to be with, the person I fell in love with."

"What do you know about love?"

"What do you know about love, dad? Because it´s hard for me to believe you ever loved my mother when all you did your entire life was cheat on her, treat her like she was less than what she truly is. Who are you to talk about love to me?"

"I am not this monster you´re thinking I am, Armand."

"Armie, my name is Armie." He says with a serious tone, while Michael sighs. "You might not be a monster, dad, but you´re not the person I always expected you to be either. I´m not gonna lie, I never thought you were perfect, I knew you had your problems, but I never expected you to be such vain, bigot man."

"I´m none of those things."

"Oh really? So you actually in love with this twenty four year old woman you´re leaving my mom for? Or is she just a new accessory in your life, something to make you feel better about yourself?"

"You have no right to talk to me like, Armand."

"You have no right to come to my house, insult me and my boyfriend and expect me to stay quiet. I owe you nothing, dad."

Michael shakes his head, trying to reach out for Armie, who takes a step back. "I´m trying to look out for you, Armand. This world is cruel and you will need us to make it through it."

"The world is fucked up, about that you are right, but I don´t need people like you to make it through it. I am happy, dad, I have found someone that I love, someone who has helped me see the best in me. What I need in my life is people who will share this happiness with me and support me, not someone who is trying to change me."

"That boy is the one trying to change you! He´s the one forcing you to be someone you´re not."

Armie scoffs, shaking his head. "So to you that´s all that I am? A boy who´s easily manipulated? You rather believe Timothée is manipulating me into dating him than actually accept the fact your son is in love with another man?"

"Armand..."

"Armie!" He nearly shouts, watching from the corner of his eyes as Timothée shows up by the door. He sighs, rubbing his face in his hands as he tries to keep himself calm. "I´m not gonna waste my time with you, dad. I´m afraid there´s nothing I can say that will get you to change your mind, to see the truth, so it would be easier if you just left."

"Don´t turn your back on me, son."

"I´m not doing that, you are."

"I am here, I am trying to rebuild our relationship and..."

"You don´t want us to rebuild our relationship, dad, you want me to break up with my boyfriend and go back to depending on you, which is not gonna happen. Not now, not ever."

Michael sighs, but nods anyway. "You´re gonna regret this."

"I highly doubt." 

Armie looks down, trying to fight back the tears that are threatening to form in his eyes. He looks up at his father, watches as he turns around but stops as he notices Timothée standing by the door. He looks over his shoulder at Armie, who simply crosses his arms, and then silently walks out of the garage, not even looking in Timothée´s direction.

Armie lets out a breath, throwing himself back on the stool as he buries his face in his hands. He feels hands sliding down his back and soft lips against his forehead before Timothée hugs him tight, humming on his ear. He takes a deep breath, wraps his arms around Timothée´s slim waist and keeps him close, a tight grip on his shirt.

"Hey, it´s okay, you´re gonna be okay."

  
  
  


***************

  
  


Timothée leans against the threshold to the bedroom door, a bottle of beer in his hand and a wide smile on his face as he stares down at Armie, who sits cross legged on the floor, guitar on his hand as he strings a few notes and shyly sings along. Despite the unexpected appearance of Armie´s dad, which definitely killed the mood for a couple of minutes, Timothée had to admit his Sunday was pretty much perfect. Seeing his mom, spending some quality time with Armie, getting to laugh and smile without a worry, that was the life he wanted for himself. 

Armie´s eyes land on his and he immediately stops, a little shy smile appearing on the corner of his lips. Timothée arches an eyebrow in question and Armie shrugs, his eyes wandering from him to the guitar.

"How long you´ve been standing there?"

"Just a minute or two."

"Oh, alright."

"You know I love to hear you sing, it´s a shame you don´t do it that often."

"Well, I´m not good at it, so that´s why."

"I think you´re actually pretty good."

Armie shakes his head and Timothée chuckles, walking inside the bedroom and taking a seat beside him on the floor. He hands Armie the beer and steals the guitar from him, trying out a few chords, but laughing as he fails it miserably.

"Lord, you´re awful at this."

"Hey, it would be nice to have a little encouragement here."

Armie chuckles. "Babe, I´m sorry, but I feel like I should be honest with you."

"You´re a horrible person. I give you my beer and that´s how you thank me, shaming my guitar skills."

"I´ll make it up to you."

"And how do you plan on doing this?"

Armie smirks, placing the beer down as he leans closer to Timothée, his hand sliding to cup his cheek. He places a few quick kisses on his lips, smiling as Timothée giggles, then fully locks their lips together, kissing him with all his will.

Timothée lets go of the guitar, hearing it fall to the ground as he moves closer to Armie´s body, wrapping his arm tightly around his neck. He feels Armie´s hand slide inside his shirt, a little shiver running down his spine as he squeezes his waist and brings him closer. 

They change positions in a swift movement, Timothée now stradling Armie´s thigh. He reaches out for the hem of Armie´s shirt, breaking the kiss only long enough to remove the shirt and toss it to the ground. He pulls on his bottom lip, a little smile as Armie moans softly and tightly holds onto his hips, grinding their crotches closer together.

Armie slowly lays kisses down Timothée´s jaw, his neck and shoulder, pulling on the collar of his shirt to expose as much skin as he can. He nibbles softly on his shoulder blades, smirking as Timothée moans and throws his head back slightly, his nails digging into his biceps.

Timothée pulls away briefly, pulling off his own shirt before he brings Armie´s face back to his, kissing him again hard. He slides his hands down his bare chest, feeling the hardness of it, but also the warmth that emanates from him. He sneaks a hand in between them, reaching out for the zipper of Armie´s jeans when the doorbell rings, causing them to pull away immediately. 

They stare at one another for a second, the doorbell going off again, which causes them both to groan, Timothée burying his face in the crook on Armie´s neck.

"You have got to be kidding me," Armie mumbles.

"Maybe if we stay quiet whoever it is will go away?"

The doorbell goes off once again and Timothée rolls his eyes, rolling to the floor as Armie gets up, adjusting himself slightly. He smirks at him, earning a wink in return, which makes him laugh. He watches Armie head off of the bedroom and down the hallway, leans back against the bed, but then quickly pushes himself up and follows him.

He reaches Armie just as he opens the door, a frown on their faces as they see Jake, Mark and Zac standing there with wide smiles on their faces and bags in their hands.

"Hey, hope we are not interrupting anything."

"Oh no, you definitely are."

"Oh well," Jake shrugs, walking past Armie while patting his back. "I ran into Mark and Zac, we had absolutely nothing to do, so we decided to stop by."

"It would have been great if you guys had called before," Armie says under his breath as Timothée chuckles, punching his arm. 

"We brough Chinese food, beer and some dvds."

"Chinese food?" Timothée says while rushing over to the kitchen, where Jake is taking a few boxes out of the plastic bags. "It´s been so long since I had Chinese food, I´ve been craving it."

"See? Aren´t you happy we came here?"

Timothée shrugs. "I´m almost not that mad you got in the way of me getting laid."

"I´m still mad."

"We can still leave," Mark says while stuffing his mouth with some Spring Rolls. "But I will take the food with me."

"Don´t you dare get in between me and my food."

"Wow," Jake mocks. "Guess Timmy here loves his food more than he loves you, Armie."

"I´m perfectly aware of that."

Timothée smirks, leaning in to place a soft kiss on Armie´s lips before reaching for a box of chicken.


	39. Chapter 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The calm and the storm

**Venice Ink**

**Part 39**

  
  
  


**//now_playing//** _Little by Little - Oasis_

 

Armie turns on the volume, the music filling the air on the empty record store. He takes a couple of cds from the top of the counter and places them back on the rack, careful to make sure they are on their right place, even if a part of him says he shouldn´t even bother. He sighs, leaning against the rack for a minute as his eyes wander to the pier, where dozen teenagers gather around, enjoying the bright summer afternoon.

Bored, he walks back behind the counter and sits down on his stool, turning on the computer so he can try to find something to distract his mind. He goes through a couple ink websites, checks some music forums and film release dates, absorbing himself in whatever the internet can provide at the moment. 

He looks up when he hears footsteps, a wide smile spreading across his face when he sees Timothée walking towards him. He takes a quick look at the clock on the wall, frowns and leans forward on the counter, capturing Timothée in a sweet and brief kiss as he reaches him. 

"Well, what a nice surprise this is."

"I left work a little early today, so I thought I could stop by and make you a little visit. How are things over here?"

"Extremely boring, you´re the fifth person that has walked in here since this morning and I am nearly going crazy."

"Everyone has Ipods now, so there´s not really a reason to buy records anymore."

"So, basically you´re saying I am contributing to my own boredom?"

Timothée chuckles, shrugging his shoulders. "You did contribute when you bought one for me, so yeah, that´s kind of it."

"I´ll think twice before buying anything from now on," he says with a scoff as Timothée chuckles, although there´s something in his eyes that worry Armie. "What?"

"Huh?"

"I can tell there´s something you might want to tell me. So, what is it?"

"I have no idea what you´re talking about, Armie." As he shoots him a look, Timothée sighs. "Okay. I was actually wondering if your mom has any news for me."

"I´m sorry, she hasn´t called me back yet, but I´m sure she´s just trying her best to find someone who´s really great on their job."

"Tell her it doesn´t even have to be that great, we just need someone who can do the job. I´m pretty sure we don´t even have the money to pay someone who´s great at it, you know? So anything will do, actually."

"Okay, I´ll stop you right there." Armie says while reaching out for Timothée´s hand, his thumb stroking his palm. "You don´t have to worry about money, Timothée."

"Armie, this person is not gonna work for free, of course I have to worry about money."

"Tim, we don´t even have a lawyer right now, so there´s really no reason for you to worry about it. Once we have someone working with us, we can all sit down and reach an agreement that will be good for everyone. Does that sound okay?"

"Yes, it does."

"Great," Armie smiles. "Also, if you want we can call my mom and ask her how things are going."

"No no, there´s no reason for that. I don´t want to pressure her, she´s already doing a lot more than she needs."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I am sure." 

Timothée nods and leans in to place another kiss on Armie´s lips, a smile forming when Armie slides his hand over to his neck, keeping him closer. He pulls away when the counter in between them starts hurting his stomach, a chuckle escaping him as Armie groans, his hands trying to reach out for him again.

"When do you leave?"

"In about half an hour."

"Wanna stop by the skate park?"

"Sure, it´s been a while since I´ve been there."

"Great," he says with a smile, his fingers tapping the counter. "I´m starving, so I´m gonna go buy us some burgers down the pier, meanwhile you go back to your busy work life."

"Funny, very funny."

  
  
  


***************

  
  
  


Timothée zigzags through the pavement, bending his knees as he prepares himself to dive down the bowl, the wind blowing on his face. He smiles at himself, the thrill of being on top of a skate never slowing down, only assuring him that no matter what he goes through, no matter who walks into his life, the skate will always be his main love. Maybe he won´t tell that to Armie, but he´s pretty damn sure he would understand it.

He does a couple of flips, his talented feet orchestrating the most elaborated maneuvers he can master on the space he has. Ever since they finished the work at the skatepark, the place has been crowded every single day, more and more people spreading the word about the place. He couldn´t be happier with the result of such a difficult project.

Timothée stops right in front of Armie, a smile on his face as Armie stares at him in pure awe. He chuckles as Armie pulls on his plaid shirt, bringing his body closer to his and placing a kiss on his lips, a little blush coming to his cheeks as he senses a couple of people staring at them.

"You´re so fucking awesome," Armie whispers through pressed lips. 

"Oh, just shut up." Timothée whines, rolling his eyes. "You wanna have a go? It´s been a while since you showed your moves."

"That´s because they are not good."

"They are pretty great."

"No, they are not, but I will have a go." 

Timothée hands him the skate, chuckling as Armie leans in to place yet another kiss on his lips. He smiles while pushing Armie away, biting on his lip as he winks at him before rushing to the bowl, joining a couple of other guys. With his hands tucked inside his pockets, Timothée watches Armie do a couple of moves, his body extremely graceful despite being so tall.

He takes a quick look around, walks over to an empty bench and sits down, his eyes not leaving Armie for even a second and the smile on his face nearly hurting his face. He wonders if he will ever be able to look at Armie and not feel completely enamored by his presence and personality.

"Can I sit here?" The voice takes Timothée out of his trance and he looks up, nodding his head as he smiles at Maxence. "I mean, you´re practically skate royalty, I am not sure I am worth of such a spot by your side."

"Oh fuck off." Maxence chuckles, nearly throwing himself down on the place next to Timothée. "Why you didn´t go to work today?"

"Had a doctor´s appointment, so I had to ask Phillip to change my schedule this week. Did you miss me?"

"Not really, the place was a lot quieter without you around."

"Ouch."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just random appointments, nothing big." He looks around the place, his eyes landing on Armie, who does a couple flips. "I talked to Armie on Saturday, you know? Apologized for everything that happened back when we were in school, I guess it worked out fine."

"I don´t think he had any issue with you, Max."

"Well, he definitely wasn´t keen on seeing us talking the other day, so I figured it wouldn´t hurt."

"That had nothing to do with what happened between you two, he was just..."

"Jealous?" Timothée looks at him, nodding his head slowly as Maxence chuckles. "Does he know I have a boyfriend?"

"He does, but I don´t think that matters much when you´re jealous, right?"

"You´re probably right. So, maybe I really shouldn´t be sitting here, huh? I don´t want him to end up kicking my ass."

"He would never do that."

"Are you sure?" Timothée shoots him a look and Maxence nods. "Okay, I´ll take your word for it."

"How is your boyfriend, by the way?"

"He´s good. We´ve talked yesterday night through the computer, he said things have been a bit chaotic, but he´s happy."

"When is he coming back?"

"He comes back in December for two months, but then has to go back and will stay there until August."

"Wow. I don´t think I would be able to stay away from Armie that long."

"You would if it was something important to him," he says while Timothée shrugs. "I was heartbroken with the simple thought of being away from him, you know? But then I figured that if I truly loved him, I should be happy that he was getting to live his dream. I am sure it would be the same for you and Armie."

Timothée nods, his eyes wandering back to Armie, who ́s walking towards them, plaid shirt wide open, sweat dripping down his forehead and the skate on his hands. He smiles, knowing Maxence is completely right; he would do anything for Armie´s happiness.

"Hey," he says when Armie finally reaches him, pulling on his shirt so he can kiss him. "Sit down with us."

Armie nods, sitting right beside Timothée, his arm wrapping around his shoulder almost immediately. "How you doing, Maxence?"

"I´m okay," he says with a small and awkward smile on his face. "I didn´t know you were also good on the skate."

"I´m just okay, nothing that comes close to this guy right here."

"Seriously, shut up," Timothée says while nudging Armie, who chuckles. "Max, Armie and I have to go. My friend Zac is turning eighteen today and we´re going to hang out with him, but I´ll see you tomorrow at work?"

"Of course."

"Nice seeing you," Armie says with a quick nod as he gets up, standing his hand out for Maxence, who shakes it quickly. He takes Timothée´s hand in his, pulling him closer as they walk across the crowded skate park. "He´s everywhere we go lately, huh?"

"He´s a friend, Armie."

"That might have a little crush on you."

"He has a boyfriend and I sense you´re more his type than I am." Armie looks down at him with an eyebrow arched and Timothée rolls his eyes. "He told me what happened in high school, okay?"

"Oh, I didn´t know about that."

"Well, you know now. And as I said before, he´s just a friend of mine, so you can chill out."

"I know, I´m sorry, this is me being stupid. It won´t happen again."

"There´s no reason for you to be jealous of him, Armie, or anyone else for that matter. I love you."

"I know and I am sorry. I promise I will try my best not to be one of these annoying guys who are jealous of everyone. I´m annoyed with myself for feeling this, I am not used to it." 

Timothée laughs, shaking his head as he punches Armie´s chest. "God, you´re so lucky you´re cute."

"Well, thank you."

  
  
  


*************

  
  
  


**//now_playing//** _Lose Yourself - Eminem_

 

The music is loud in the living room while the boys gather around the kitchen, a few bottles of beer, sodas and pizza boxes on top of the counter, while Zac reaches for a few bags of chips on the cupboard. Armie is sitting on the edge of the counter, his legs spread open while Timothée stands in between them, an arm lazily wrapped around Armie´s waist.

Mark has his mouth filled with pizza, his red hair up in a bun while he taps his fingers to the rhythm of the song, which despite sounding just about right, annoys the hell out of of Jake, who keeps nudging and glaring at him. 

Despite the word party being used to describe the night, in the end it was just a small gathering, the five of them enjoying each other´s company, talking and laughing. While they all seem to have something different going on in their lives, Zac´s birthday was a nice way to force them all to see each other, chill, talk shit and not give much care about the world.

Timothée in particular couldn´t be happy to have a moment like this with his friends, where he can just be carefree and forget about the issues that insist on haunting him.

"I can´t believe you´re turning eighteen and instead of a huge party, all you wanted was to hang out with us and have a couple of pizzas," Jake says while hopping on the kitchen sink, tossing a few chips on his mouth.

"I can´t say the thought didn´t cross my mind, but then I thought about all the trouble I would have to put it all together. Besides, in the end a huge party is always about a bunch of people you don´t know who show up uninvited and waste your booze and your food."

"That is actually true," Jake says. "I spent quite a lot of money on my birthday party, but it was also really fun and I got to hook up with some hot chicks."

"I for once much rather just the five of us than a huge party," Timothée admits. "I start getting a bit freaked out when there´s too much people around."

"Is that why the two of you always sneak out before the party ends?"

Armie smirks, shrugging his shoulders as Mark laughs. He looks down at Timothée, winks at him and leans down to place a kiss on his lips, stopping when his friends start throwing chips on them.

"Stop! We said no making out."

"It´s just a kiss, relax."

Zac laughs, shaking his head, although he quickly stops, a serious look taking over his face. It doesn´t take much long for Timothée to notice the look, which causes him to arch an eyebrow, suddenly a bit worried.

"Is everything okay, dude?"

"Yeah, it´s just...," he sighs, shrugging his shoulders. "There´s another reason why I didn´t want a huge ass party."

"And what is it?"

"After the whole Berkley debacle, when I told my parents I didn´t really want to go to the university or study administration, we had a lot of conversations about my future and what exactly I wanted for it. And it took me quite a while to think things through, but I´ve decided that right after Christmas I will be leaving for Europe for six months."

"What?!"

The voices echo in the kitchen, although Timothée remains quiet, his green eyes stuck on Zac, who scratches the back of his head. It takes him a couple of seconds to actually process the words he just heard, torn between the mix of pain and excitement for his friend.

"Why didn´t you tell me anything about this?"

"I didn´t tell anyone, Tim. I wanted to make sure everything was kind of sorted out before letting anyone know."

"I can´t believe you´re leaving."

"Well, it´s only after Christmas."

"Still, you´re leaving me and I don´t really know what I feel about this."

"Oh c´mon, man, you´re not even gonna miss me. Not when you got your giant here with you."

Timothée rolls his eyes, pushes himself off of Armie and walks over to Zac, wrapping his arms around him. "I should be kicking your ass for not telling me about this."

"Sorry, bro."

"You´re lucky I am very happy for you."

"Thanks," Zac says while pulling away from the hug, a small smile on his lips. "I wish we could do this together, but I know we still have our whole lives ahead of us to do something like this."

"You´re damn right we got."

"I´m gonna miss you." Timothée nods, a smile on his face as he punches his arm. "Ouch. What the fuck, man?"

"That´s what you get for keeping things from me."

"Where are you going and what exactly are you doing there, Zac?" Armie asks while reaching for a beer.

"I´m heading to London first, and the idea is to take some short term courses over there. Then I might head to France or Germany, but I´m not sure yet."

"Little cousin living the best life," Marks says with a proud smile. "Maybe you should go to Amsterdam? Heard is a pretty nice place to visit."

"Lots of weed."

"Exactly."

"The guy is going to study and all you two idiots can think about is weed," Armie says while shaking his head. He hops off of the counter, walks over to Zac and pats his shoulder, a sly smile plastered on his lips. "I hope you´ll have a lot of fun there, dude, but since we still have a couple of months with you here, we should make the best out of it."

Zac arches an eyebrow. "And what exactly do you have in mind?"

  
  
  


***************

  
  


"I can´t believe we´re doing this again."

Timothée´s voice echoes in the quiet night, despite him whispering. His eyes, wide and attentive, wander around the neighborhood in search of anyone that could see them. He sighs, shaking his head as he feels Armie´s arms wrap around him, his lips placing a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Relax, Timmy, everything worked out fine the last time."

"That means shit, Armie, we could still get caught and I really don´t want to end up in the police."

"No one is gonna end up in the police, babe."

"You got a little fetish on doing things borderline the law, Armie, I´m not sure I really trust you anymore when it comes to things like this."

"When have I ever done something that got us in risk of going to jail?"

Timothée looks at him over his shoulder, an eyebrow arched. "Have you forgotten about our first kiss? Because seconds before that we were running away from the police."

Armie chuckles, shrugging his shoulders. "And that was the only time something like this happened."

"Can you two shut the fuck up?"

They both turn to Jake, who is kneeling down on the floor, trying his best to open the padlock, while Mark leans against the door, holding a flashlight in his direction. 

"I´m trying to do a very delicate job here, you guys are distracting me."

"You´ve done this many times, Jake, a little bit of talking shouldn´t be that distracting."

"Wanna do it yourself?"

"You are awfully annoying tonight, you might be in need of more beer."

"What he needs is to get laid," Mark mocks as Zac shakes his head, laughing. "Lois hasn´t really showed up lately, so he´s a bit moody."

"Are you fucking serious?"

"Yeah, that´s my cousin we´re talking about, I´m not really interested in this conversation anymore."

"Funny, since you were the one who kept saying I should get back together with her."

"Doesn´t mean I wanna hear about your sex life with her."

Zac laughs, shaking his head as takes a quick look around the place. "We´re trying to break into private property, maybe we should all stop talking and just focus on the job? It might be my birthday, but if we get caught, my parents will kick my ass."

"Aaaaand...we´re in." 

Jake puts on a proud smile on his face, tosses the little tool in his hand back to Mark and then pushes the door open, the lights turning on immediately. He looks over his shoulder, nods in the direction of the door and rushes in while the other four boys follow him close behind.

Timothée gives one quick look behind his back as he walks in, his heart still pounding inside his chest. He feels a hand on his shoulder, looks to the side and sighs as Armie stares at him, a sweet and encouraging smile on his face.

"Will you chill out? We´re inside already, let´s have some fun and show those three idiots who is the best skater in California."

"Seconds best under eighteen, actually."

Armie laughs, pushing the door close as he wraps his arm around Timothée´s shoulder and brings him closer, placing a sweet kiss on his temple.

"Okay, second best under eighteen, time to wow us with your talent once again."

  
  
  
  


*****************

  
  
  


"You look like crap," Maxence says while leaning against the wall, a smirk on his face as he watches Timothée stacking some soda cans on the shelves.

"I was up until four in the morning celebrating my best friend´s birthday, but it was only this morning that I noticed how wrong that was, since I had to come to work today."

"You want some help with that?"

"Please, put me out of my misery."

Maxence chuckles, shoving Timothée to the side so he can get some more space. He reaches for a couple of cans, placing them on the shelves, but arches an eyebrow as he notices Timothée staring at him.

"What´s wrong?"

"There was something I was meaning to ask you, but I´m scared that might make things a bit awkward between us, so I´m not really sure I should say anything."

"Well, now I´m curious, so you might as well ask it."

"My friend Zac, you met him at the skate competition," he explains as Maxence nods. "He told me you might have a crush on me, which sounds silly, but he said he could understand why Armie was slightly annoyed and I kept thinking about that and..."

Timothée trails off, a frown on his face as he realizes how stupid he sounds right now. He should have kept himself quiet, because there is absolutely no way he can ever look at Maxence the same way again now. He will be too embarrassed to do so.

"Shit, I really should have kept my mouth shut. Look, I´m sorry, I know this must be a bit awkward to you, but I really didn´t want to..."

"Do you always talk this fast when you get nervous or should I be worried you´re hyperventilating?"

Timothée stops, chuckling once he sees Maxence´s face. "No, that´s just me being a very weird person."

"Okay, that makes me feel a bit better."

"Max..."

"Look, you´re really cute and I am sure there are a lot of guys out there who got their eyes on you, but you don´t have to worry about me."

"That´s what I told Zac, but he...you know what? It´s not really important."

"You know, maybe if I had met you a few months ago, when I was feeling very low and missed Axel a lot, maybe things would be different."

"When you were very low? Jesus, now I´m feeling good with myself."

Maxence chuckles, shaking his head. "That´s not what I meant, Tim."

"I know, I know, I´m just messing with you."

"Okay. And just so you know, you don´t have to feel awkward at all about this, alright? I like the fact you actually had the balls to come and talk to me about it, most people would just start acting weird and distant."

"I like you, you´re a good friend, I didn´t want things to be weird and that´s why I thought talking about it could be a good idea."

"It was," he says while standing his hand out for Timothée to shake. "Bros?"

Timothée laughs and rolls his eyes, but once he is about to take Maxence´s hand in his, a loud thud reverberates through the supermarket, causing them both to turn around and look over at the entrance. With wide eyes, Timothée watches as Matthew stumbles around the place, knocking boxes all over and mumbling something. 

He immediately feels his hands start to shake and a shiver of fear run down his spine, his heart pounding inside his chest. He keeps himself in place, eyes locked on his father as he tries to figure out what to do in a moment like this.

The moment Matthew stumbles and falls on top of a pile of laundry soap boxes though, Timothée immediately rushes to him, shaking his head at how stupid he is for even thinking of helping the man after everything he has done. He looks over his shoulder for a brief second, seeing Maxence walk right behind him and sighs, not really sure he can hide the nature of his connection with Matthew.

He kneels down to reach for his hand, takes a hold of it and tries to pull him up, groaning as Matthew tosses from side to side, mumbling incoherent things. The smell of booze is strong, his hair is a mess and there´s sweat all over his face; he was clearly out for most of the night and instead of stopping, he wants more.

"Dad, what the hell are you doing here?"

Matthew´s eyes finally find his and he frowns, pulling his hand away from Timothée´s grip and wiping it on his jeans. He tries to get up, but his hand slips and he falls back down, his head hitting one of the boxes and spreading soap all over the floor.

"Dad, let me help you."

"Don´t touch me!"

"Seriously? You can´t even get up, just let me help you."

"I don´t need your help, you faggot," he blurts out, his voice loud as people start gathering around them. "I don´t want people like you touching me."

"I´m trying to help you, despite everything you ever done to me."

"Fuck you," he screams, kicking his legs in a fail attempt to get up.

Timothée sighs, burying his face in his hand as he tries to calm himself down. He looks around, his cheeks blushing as he notices the people looking, but there´s not really much he can do now. He reaches for Matthew, takes a hold of his arm, despite his attempts to push him off and uses all his strength to pull him up with him, a sigh escaping him when he finally does it.

"Get the hell away from me, cocksucker," Matthew screams while pushing Timothée back, his eyes wide and dark. "I said I don´t want people like you touching me. You´re a freak, an abomination, people like you should burn in hell."

"Guess you know a thing or two about that, huh?" Timothée whispers to him, tears already filling his eyes. "Just leave, okay? Don´t make a mess here, I´m begging you."

"And why would I care about what you want, huh? I don´t fucking care about you, kid, never did and never will."

"Yeah, I get that."

"Now, get the hell out of my face and let me go buy my beer."

"You´re not buying anything here."

"And who´s gonna stop me?" He asks while launching himself towards Timothée, who takes a step back, his eyes wide and his whole body shaking. Matthew laughs, a wicked grin on his face as he takes another step in Timothée´s direction. "Oh, is poor little faggot scared? I thought you were tough, kid."

"Just leave, please."

"Fuck you."

Timothée shakes his head, a few tears running down his cheek as he stands there, trying to get his brain to function. He watches from the corner of his eye as Maxence shows up running, two of the supermarket´s bodyguards along with him. 

They take a hold of Matthew´s arms, pulling him back as he starts screaming and kicking, doing his best to get away from their grip. He stares at Timothée, rage filled eyes as he screams more and more, attracting the eyes of everyone.

"Get off of me! That boy is the one you should be kicking out of this place," he fumes. "That little cocksucker is the one you should kick out.... let go of me...fuck you...fuck all of you....I´m gonna fucking kill you, you little piece of shit..."

Timothée takes a couple of steps back, his tears only increasing as he watches his father be dragged out of the supermarket, his screams echoing as everyone looks at them with wide eyes. He squirms away when Maxence tries to touch him, shakes his head and sighs.

"Hey, you can calm down now. Everything will be alright."

"No, it won´t, Max."

"Is that...is that really your dad?"

Timothée simply nods, not really in condition to say anything at the moment. He wipes away his tears, trying his best to get his breathing back to normal, but before he can do so, he hears his name being called. He turns around along with Maxence, their eyes wandering to the manager, who stands by his door, an angry look on his face.

"Timothée, in my office now."


	40. Chapter 40

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A promise.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 40**

  
  


"Okay, here we are."

Armie´s voice echoes in the car as he parks outside the restaurant, his eyes wandering to Timothée, who´s sitting quietly on the passenger´s seat, his fingers repeatedly tapping on his knees as he looks out the window.

"Are you seriously nervous about this?"

"This is quite the fancy restaurant, Armie, I´m not really used to this kind of places."

"Trust me, I wouldn´t be taking you to any fancy places."

"Wow, that definitely makes me feel better," Timothée mocks while rolling his eyes.

"That´s not what I meant and you know it, Tim. I spent sixteen years of my life going to fancy restaurants and having to endure eccentric parties of millionaires, I hated every single second of it and I promise you I will never make you go through that shit."

"Thank you, I appreciate." He chuckles as Armie shrugs, taking his hand in his. "Look, I´m thrilled you decided to take me out here and do something different, truly I couldn´t stop thinking about it ever since you mentioned this morning. It´s just, I never really had the opportunity to go any place that had a wine menu, so anything fancier than a diner is quite challenging for me."

"Well, you deserve nice things. Not that a diner is a bad idea, there´s where we actually eat the good food."

Timothée chuckles, shaking his head as Armie leans closer to him, tucking a few curls behind his ear. He sighs, cups Armie´s face in his hands, his thumb gently stroking his cheek and leans in for a short kiss.

"We can go somewhere else if you want, Tim, I won´t be mad about it. All I want is to see you smiling, happy and comfortable, so just say it and we can go find somewhere else."

"No, it´s okay. I need to stop putting myself down all the time, I have as much right to go to a fancy restaurant than anyone else in the world."

"That´s true."

"And since it was your idea to bring me here and have a fancy night out, I will be ordering the most expensive thing on the menu."

"Yeah, that might not be a good idea, I don´t want us to end the night washing the dishes."

Timothée laughs, punching Armie´s chest before kissing him once more. He gestures towards the restaurant, watches Armie nod and then hops off of the car, waiting by the side until Armie makes his way over. He smiles softly as he takes his hand in his, intertwining their fingers as they make their way across the street and inside the building.

A woman in her mid twenties swiftly rushes to them, a wide smile on her face as she holds a clipboard of sorts in her hands. "Good evening, what can I help you with?"

"I have reservations under the name Armie Hammer."

"Okay," she says while looking down at the clipboard on her hands, nodding her head as her finger slides down the paper. "Yes, your table is ready. Follow me, please."

Armie nods, squeezing Timothée´s hand slightly as they make their way around the many tables, attracting the eyes of some of the other clients. He smiles and nods to the woman as she points to the table, helps Timothée with his chair and then sits down across from him, thanking her as she places the menus down.

He gives the menu a quick look, flipping through the pages for a second before his eyes wander back to Timothée, who is biting his lip and once again tapping his fingers repeatedly, this time on the table.

"Seriously, we can just get the hell out of here if you want. I don´t want this night to be uncomfortable to you, Tim."

"No, I´m alright. There´s just some people staring at us and it´s so freaking annoying."

"I don´t think there will ever be a day where people won´t stare at us," Armie says with a shrug. "We can only hope that when we walk into a restaurant in sixteen years, people won´t be freaked out by the fact we´re holding hands."

"In sixteen years?" Timothée asks as he leans forward on the table, an amused look on his face. "Are you serious?"

"What? Yes, I´m serious."

"So you think in 2019 we´ll still be together?"

"Of course we´re gonna be together." 

Timothée shakes his head, a beaming smile on his face. No matter through how many shit he goes through, having Armie around can always bring a smile to his face and make him feel truly alive.

"Okay, I´m gonna be serious right now. I´m not gonna sit here and tell you we´re gonna be a happy couple in sixteen years, because I can´t really make that promise. Life is tricky and filled with ups and downs, we never know what might in the next day, let alone in sixteen years, but I want to make to make a pact with you."

"As long as it doesn´t involve us cutting ourselves to seal the deal with blood, I might be on board."

"Very funny," Armie says between chuckles as Timothée shrugs. "Let´s promise each other that no matter what happens with us, we´ll always try our best to remain friends..."

"Armie..."

"Let me finish, okay?" Timothée nods and Armie smiles. "I care about you more than I ever cared about anyone and I want to see you happy no matter what, so even if one day we fall out of love and decide to break up, I want to be around you. I want us to try and be friends, because what we´ve already been through together can´t really be forgotten or pushed back to be just a memory. I want you to feel like you can count on me, even if you don´t necessarily love me anymore."

"Where are you going with this, Armie? What is the pact?"

"On this day in 2019, no matter what kind of relationship we have, we are gonna get together to talk and share a beer. Does that sound good to you?"

"In 2019?" Armie nods and Timothée chuckles, shrugging his shoulder. "Okay, we have a deal."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it sounds like something to look forward to." Timothée says excitedly. "I wonder if you´re gonna have a belly or if your hair is gonna be a lot thinner by then...do you have a baldness history in your family?"

Armie chuckles, shaking his head as Timothée giggles. "Okay, I think it´s time we focus on what we´re gonna order."

"Oh c´mon, let me daydream a little bit more."

"No no, I´m done with that shit."

"Look, I´m sure 2019 Armie will be just as sexy as the 2003 one."

"And that´s why you´re still gonna be with me."

"Maybe...although I really need to know more about the whole baldness thing."

"I barely have any hair right now and you don´t seem to mind."

"Sometimes it would be nice to have something to pull on, you know," he whispers as Armie smirks. "Okay, I´ve walked myself into a dangerous place here, maybe we should just focus on the food."

"No no, let´s talk more about this grabbing thing."

"Oh, shut up." 

  
  
  


******************

  
  


Armie´s laugh echoes in the quiet streets of Venice Beach as he hears Timothée´s giggles, a bright smile on his face while he spins him around. Seeing him so carefree and happy is truly the most beautiful thing he has ever seen in his life, and Armie doubts there will ever be anything capable of topping that.

He pulls him closer to him, wrapping his arm tightly around his waist and leaning down to kiss his lips. He smiles when Timothée´s hand leans against his chest and he deepens the kiss, breaking apart only when they both become breathless.

Armie winks down at him, pushes a couple of curls back and kisses his forehead. He wraps an arm around his shoulder and leads him down the street, the warmth of his body pressed against his so soothing and addictive. 

They walk in silence until they reach the pier, which still has a couple of stores open and some teenagers wondering around. They stop by an ice cream parlor, buy two cones and head down the beach, stealing spoonfuls of each other´s ice cream. 

It´s safe to say their night was all about having fun, enjoying each other´s company and pushing back any possible trouble, something they both seemed to need. It was obvious that life had not been the kindest to neither of them lately, their family problems taking a tool of them and making them question everything around them. But even throughout all the angst they had inside of them, they only seemed to come out stronger from it and their relationship seemed to grow with each problem they faced. They could only hope things would remain this way.

Armie chuckles as he sees Timothée staring at him, a sly smile on his face, which causes him to arch an eyebrow in confusion. When he throws a spoonful of ice cream right into his nose, Armie gasps loudly, his eyes going wide as Timothée nearly curls up laughing.

He shakes his head, removes the ice cream from his face and reaches up to Timothée, who swiftly takes a step back and shuns away from him. Armie groans, tries to reach out for him once more, but watches in pure awe as Timothée runs away from him, his curls blowing with the wind. 

He runs after him, throwing the cone down before he grabs him by his waist, swinging him around in the air. He tightens his grip as Timothée tries to get away from him, kicking his legs as he laughs. Armie chuckles at the sight, shakes his head and swiftly brings Timothée down to the sand, hovering on top of him while pinning his hands down.

They stare at each other for a moment, wide smiles on their faces and nothing but love and affection in their eyes. Armie leans down, brushing his still dirty nose all over Timothée´s face, causing him to squirm underneath him.

"This is for wasting food," he whispers as Timothée rolls his eyes, but pulls him even closer, kissing him fiercely. Armie moans softly, his hands sliding down to his waist before sneaking inside his shirt to feel his warm skin.

Timothée wraps his arms around his neck, his leg pressing against his hip and keeping him as close as possible. He pulls away briefly, licks some of the ice cream on Timothée´s face then lays kisses down his jaw and neck, a proud smile on his face when he notices Timothée´s breathing get a bit shallow and his name leave his lips in a sweet and long moan.

"Come with me," Armie whispers while pushing himself up, his hand out for Timothée to take. He wiggles his eyebrows, nods his head and smiles as Timothée takes a hold of his hand and follows him down the sand.

They reach the lifeguard stand rather quickly, Armie´s eyes wandering around the area before they climb up the ramp. He reaches for something in his pocket, smirking as he sees Timothée frown and kneels down to get a better view at the little door´s lock. He pokes the little pocket knife inside the lock, twists from one side to the other, a concentrated look on his face until he hears a low click and the door opens.

"When I say you have a thing for breaking the law..." Timothée teases as Armie shrugs his shoulders, stepping inside the small room where some lifeguard equipment are kept. Timothée looks around the place, biting his lips as he follows Armie inside and kicks the door close behind him.

Armie pulls him by the shirt, kissing him tenderly as he presses his back against the wall. He smiles as Timothée reaches out for his shirt and pulls away long enough for him to take it off and throw it to the ground, which is soon filled with their clothes. As they keep their lips together, Armie slides his hands down to Timothée´s thighs and pulls him up, wrapping his legs around his own hip.

  
  
  


****************

  
  


The waves crash on the shore while the Sun shines bright on the cloudless sky, the heat increasing more and more as the hours go by and with it, the sand and the pier start getting crowded with people enjoying yet another summer day. Inside the lifeguard stand, Armie lies down on the floor, his arms tightly wrapped around Timothée, who has his head leaned against his bare chest. He blinks a couple of times, sleep slowly wearing off as he looks around the place and yawns.

He smiles down at Timothée, who sleeps peacefully, his curls falling down his forehead and framing his fame perfectly. He gently strokes his back with his thumb, moving slightly as he tries to ease the pain that starts to radiate through his back. Even if he is just twenty years old, sleeping on a hardwood floor is never a good idea. 

As Timothée moves, a little grunt escaping him, Armie chuckles and leans down to place a kiss on his hair. He feels his hand grip onto his waist and places yet another kiss, repeating the move until Timothée chuckles and looks up, sleepy eyes staring straight into his.

"Good morning, beautiful."

"Good morning," Timothée says in between yawns, his heavy eyes wandering around the place. "What time is it?"

"Almost nine in the morning."

"What? Are you serious?" Armie nods slowly and Timothée groans, sitting up quickly. "Armie, we need to get the hell out of this place before anyone catches us."

"Why you´re always worried about someone catching us?"

"Why you´re never worried about someone catching us?"

Armie laughs, wrapping his arms around Timothée´s waist and pulling him back down on top of him. He pushes some of his hair back, his finger gently tracing the freckles on his face before he leans in to kiss his nose, then his cheek and finally his lips.

Timothée smiles, his hand resting on Armie´s chest as he deepens the kiss, the fear of being caught not as big as his will to have Armie as close as possible every little second of his life. He giggles when Armie rolls them over and hovers on top of him, laying kisses down his shoulder and his chest, his hand now sliding down to his hips.

"You´re really good at keeping me distracted, you know?"

"It´s my biggest superpower and I am very pleased with it, to be honest."

Timothée chuckles and cups his face, bringing Armie closer to him so he can kiss him once more. He wraps his arms tightly around his neck, one leg hooking around Armie´s body and bringing him closer to him. Moments like this are what bring joy and hope for Timothée, that make him hold onto the thought of a better future.

"In all honestly though," he says while tilting his head back, a little moan escaping him as Armie sucks on his neck. "I´m starving and as much as I would love for us to just stay here the rest of the day, doing exactly what we are doing now, my stomach won´t let me."

Armie stops and leans on his elbows, looking down at Timothée, who has a sweet little smile on his face. "You´re turning me down for food?"

"A man has to have his priorities in check, Armie."

"You´re lucky I fucking love you...and I might be a little hungry too."

"See? This is why I love you, we´re always in sync with everything, even our hunger."

Armie laughs, shaking his head as Timothée shrugs. He sighs, leans in to give him a little peck on the lips and then pulls himself up, standing his hand out to help him. He takes a look around the place, trying to find their clothes anywhere and finds them tangled in a corner. He reaches for it and throws Timothée´s his before quickly putting his own, stretching out his arms and legs after he does so.

"Is your body also hurting from this horrible floor?"

Armie chuckles, nodding his head. "We´re such old souls, aren´t we? One night out and we´ll probably be in pain for the rest of the weekend."

"A good reminder on why is always better to have sex on a bed."

"That might be true," Armie says while pulling Timothée by the shirt, slamming their bodies together. "But the thrill of doing in a place like this, that will never compare."

"Please, tell me you didn´t just develop a kink for sex in public places?"

"Maybe, maybe not. We´ll see what the future holds."

Timothée rolls his eyes, but kisses Armie anyway, before pushing him towards the door with him. He opens the door slowly, eyes wandering all around to make sure there´s no one outside just waiting for them to come out, sighs as he notices the people who are on the sand are completely oblivious to them and quickly makes his way out, pulling Armie with him down the ramp.

"See? No one gives a damn about us being there, you had nothing to worry about."

"Shut up, Armie."

"You´re really hungry, aren´t you? You´re starting to get really grumpy."

"Which means you should stop talking and find us a place to eat."

"There´s a small diner just outside the pier, they don´t usually get crowded, but have a wonderful breakfast menu."

"That´s all I need right now," Timothée says while Armie intertwines their fingers. "Lead the way, Mr. Artist.”

  
  


***************

  
  


Timothée closes the door behind him, a towel wrapped around his waist and water still dripping down his hair as he walks to the closet, picking some clean pants and underwear. He quickly puts them on while his eyes scan through the little collection of clothes he now has on Armie´s closet, which is both a nice thing and a reminder of the fact his mother felt the need to kick him out of his house for him to remain safe. He shakes his head, pushing those sad thoughts back and moves on to Armie´s side of the closet, trying to find the most comfortable shirt he can possibly have.

It´s Saturday, he plans on spending the rest of the day curled up on the couch, eating popcorn and watching silly movies, so comfortable clothes is the go to choice right now.

He frowns as he sees a few shirts tangled on the back of the closet and reaches out for them, chuckling as he sees them up close. He grabs one of them, checks out for the smell and then throws it on, running his hands through it to smooth out the fabric. He turns to look at himself in the mirror, a little smile on the corner of his lips and dries off his hair, pushing the curls back before he makes it out of the room and back to the living room.

Armie is already sitting on the couch along with Lois, a huge bowl of popcorn in between them as he flips through channels. It takes him a second, but he eventually notices Timothée standing there and looks up, eyes wide as he sees what he is wearing. Timothée chuckles at his expression, looking down at the shirt for a second, before locking eyes with Armie.

"I never saw you as the tie dye shirt kind of guy, Armie."

"That shirt was a mistake."

"You still used it a lot for it to be a mistake," Lois mocks as he looks at her. "If I am not mistaken, that was your go to shirt on the summer of 2000. Don´t pretend you didn´t wear it until you got tired of it and made everyone´s eyes bleed for looking at that tie dye for so long."

Timothée laughs, throwing himself down on the couch, his legs instantly lying on top of Armie´s. "I would die to see you wearing this shirt."

"There are probably some photos somewhere," Lois says with a smirk as she hands Timothée the popcorn. "I specifically remember him wearing it on one of my birthday parties."

"Oh, we´re going through those photos later."

"No one is gonna go through any photos, there´s a reason why this shirt was hidden in the back of my closet and it´s because I didn´t want to see it anymore."

"Should have thought about this before saying everything that is yours is also mine."

Armie rolls his eyes, shaking his head as he turns his attention back to the television. He flips through a couple more channels, groaning as he finds nothing worth watching and throws the control back on the couch, while reaching for the dvd box.

"Oh, I just remembered," Lois says excitedly, catching their attention once again. "You were wearing that shirt on Mark´s birthday on your first year here, you also had this very strange haircut, which you got  during your road trip. It was absolutely horrible and even you regretted it."

Armie sighs, leaning back on the couch. "Yes, I made some poor choices back in the day. Can we all move on from that now?"

"What? No, I´m just now learning about these poor fashion choices of yours and I want to know more about it."

"It´s not that fun, actually."

"I beg to differ."

Lois jumps up, a bright smile on her face. "You keep trying to find a movie for us to watch, I´m gonna go get my photo albums, because I am sure there are some awesome gems there for Timmy to see."

"Lois, for fuck´s sake, don´t do this."

"He deserves to see it, Armie."

Timothée laughs as Lois runs to her bedroom and Armie groans, burying his face in his hands. He reaches out for him, wrapping his arms around his body and pulling him closer, placing a kiss on his head.

"I´m sure you´ll look cute in all those photos."

"You clearly haven´t seen them," he says with a pout as Timothée chuckles. "Seriously, the hair was horrible, I don´t know what I was thinking."

"We all have gone through bad fashion choices, Armie. Believe me, I have done some weird shit with my hair."

He arches an eyebrow. "And where are those photos? Because your mom showed me a lot, but I never saw anything like this."

"Because unlike you, I made sure to destroy every evidence."

Armie chuckles, nodding his head. "I clearly have a lot to learn from you."

"Yes, yes you do."

  
  


*****************

  
  


**//now_playing//** _Semi Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind_

 

Armie sits on the chair, his eyes locked on the computer screen in front of him as he scrolls through thousands of pages, saving articles and photos that seem to catch his attention. Meanwhile, Timothée sits on the bed, his back against the wall as his eyes wander through the pages of his book, a little smile coming to his face whenever he reaches a line that seems to stick to him.

He sighs when his body starts to hurt from being in the same position for too long, arches his back and closes the book, his eyes wandering to Armie, who remains quiet and concentrated on whatever he is doing.

"Should I be worried that you´ve been sitting in front of that computer for over an hour and has not even once looked at me?"

Armie chuckles, tilting his head back so he can look at Timothée. "Are you jealous of my computer?"

"Should I be? Are you stalking some hot dudes online?"

"Nah, I´m just doing some research."

Timothée nods, placing the book down on the bed as he gets up. He walks over to Armie, wrapping his arms around him as he leans his chin on his shoulder, his eyes scanning through the computer screen.

"Research for what?"

"That mural I´m gonna start working on this week," he says while taking a hold of Timothée´s hands. "It´s a massive project and I´m a little scared about it, to be honest, so I´m doing as much research as I can to make sure I have everything set before starting."

"Why are you scared? You´ve done things this big before."

"Not on my own, the other two times I had something like this to do, Jake and Mark were working with me, but now it´s all my responsibility."

Timothée nods, leaning his face closer to Armie. "And what exactly are you thinking of doing?"

"That´s the problem. The project is supposed to represent the artistic side of the city, but I want to make sure all fields of art can be represented there and that makes it a whole lot of trouble." Timothée chuckles and Armie tilts his head to the side, arching an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"Nothing, it´s just... I love how you´re so passionate about this and how you want to make sure everyone who looks at this mural will feel something. You could simply go for your field of art, but you´re thinking of everyone and that is a testimony of the man you are. I´m really proud of you, you know."

Armie smiles, placing a quick kiss on Timothée´s cheeks before turning back to the computer screen. "I know how chaotic life can be on the day to day life, these people are gonna be driving to work and stop by this mural and maybe it will make them smile, brighten their day a little bit. I want to make sure even someone who doesn´t really care about art can appreciate it."

"I´m sure you´re gonna find the right way to do this, Armie. You´re a lot more talented than you can imagine and I am sure this mural will be the beginning of a lot of others, which will be immensely important for your career."

"Thank you. Knowing you trust me so much with this is really nice, it gives me a lot more confidence."

"As if you need it," Timothée mocks as Armie rolls his eyes. "Seriously now, why don´t you stop for a minute and relax a little bit, huh? I´m sure if you clear your head, once you get back to this, it will be a lot easier to deal with."

Armie nods, turning around on the chair and bringing Timothée down to his lap, a wide smile on his face. "I think that can be a great idea."

"And if you want, I can help you with that."

"And how would you do that, mister?"

Timothée smirks and gets up, standing his hand out for Armie, who takes it immediately. He leads him to the bed, throws him down on it and climbs on top of him, removing his shirt on the process. He leans down to kiss him, his hands sneaking inside his shirt as Armie knots his fingers on his hair and deepens the kiss.


	41. Chapter 41

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love and lies.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 41**

  
  
  


Armie groans, pulling the sheets on top of him as he tries to go back to sleep. He opens an eye, the sunlight beaming in through the white curtains and sighs, turning to the other side and arching an eyebrow as he notices the bed is empty. He leans on his elbows, looking around the room and frowns when he sees Timothée standing in front of the mirror, putting on his clothes. He flops back onto the bed, an arm under his head as he eyes him up and down, a little smile appearing on the corner of his lips.

He is the luckiest man in the world to have someone like Timothée with him. Beautiful, kind, funny, talented and just simply authentic. He can say he met a lot of people in life, but none of them ever came close to the person Timothée is.

"Will you stop staring at me like that? Is kind of creepy."

"Creepy or romantic?"

"Creepy," Timothée assures him while looking over his shoulder, a smirk on his face.

"Here I was thinking of how kind and sweet you are, and the first chance you got, you hurt me like this. Life really isn´t fair."

Timothée laughs, rolling his eyes as Armie chuckles. He runs his fingers through his hair, pushing some of the curls back and then turns around on his heels, heading to the bed and taking a seat beside Armie, who promptly wraps his arms around his waist and brings him down for a kiss.

"Why don´t you lie back down with me, huh?"

Timothée smiles, his thumb caressing Armie´s cheek. "That sounds lovely, but I´m heading to Zac´s house in a few and if I dare to take you on that offer, I´ll be late."

"Zac will understand."

"Maybe, but I don´t feel like explaining to his parents that the reason I´m late for lunch is because my boyfriend wanted to have sex."

"Who said anything about sex?" Timothée shoots him a look and Armie shrugs. "We don´t have to go all the way."

"A kiss is all you get, mister."

"Gosh, you´re bound to make me suffer today, aren´t you?"

"Oh, poor you." Timothée pouts while pinching his cheeks. "I promise you once I´m back, I´m all yours."

"I´ll remember that."

"Okay. I´ll even bring some food and we can have dinner together, how does that sound?"

"I´m starting to feel better."

Timothée chuckles, places a quick kiss on Armie´s lips and then sighs, his face turning a bit serious as Armie arches an eyebrow. "I don´t want to get your mood down, but your father called you a couple times."

"Did you talk to him?"

"No, I didn´t even answer the phone. I highly doubt he would like to talk to me, so I thought it was better to just ignore. But maybe you should call him?"

"Why bother? We´ll end up arguing anyway."

"You don´t know about that, Armie. Look, I get it that you´re hurt and you have all the right to be, but if he´s trying to talk to you, then maybe you should at least try to get something out of this. It might end in an argument, but it might also help you two reach a common ground, where he understands you and you understand him."

"You talk about how good I am, but you have so much going on in your life, you´ve been through such dark moments and yet you always try to listen to people and understand why they are the way they are."

"We all have our demons, Armie. I believe it´s a lot better to try and understand others than simply cast them aside." Armie nods and Timothée smiles. "That´s why I also think you should try to talk to Viktor. He´s got a lot of pain inside of him and I don´t think he knows how to handle it, that´s why he chose to throw it all on you. It´s so much easier to blame others for our problems than to look inside ourselves and acknowledge the things we did. Besides, he´s your brother and I know you love him, wouldn´t be nice to make amends?"

"That´s all I ever wanted, but it´s hard to do it when Viktor doesn´t even want to look me in the eye."

"But you can´t stop trying, otherwise it will never get anywhere."

"Okay. I´ll call my dad and try to reach out to Viktor somehow, I know you´re right and if I have the opportunity to make amends with my family, I should do it."

Timothée nods, leaning down to kiss him once more. "Call me if you need anything, but I should be back around five or six."

"Just take your time and have fun."

"I´ll do that."

"Love you."

"Love you, too. See you later."

"See you later," Armie shouts as Timothée runs out of the bedroom. He sighs, looking around the room and reaches out for his phone on the nightstand, seeing all the missed calls from his father. He stares at it for a couple of minutes, takes a deep breath and dials his number, his heart already racing as he presses the phone against his ear.

  
  


***************

  
  


Armie leans his chin on his hand, while sketching away on a piece of paper, trying to come up with something that he actually likes. He sighs, shakes his head and throws the paper and pencil to the side, stretching out his arms above his head before hopping off of the stool and heading to the fridge. He grabs a bottle of water, taking a few sips of it while going through the cupboards in search of anything to eat. 

He smiles at himself when he finds a package of cookies, rips it open and stuffs one inside his mouth. He goes back to the counter, bringing the paper closer to him while nibbling on another cookie, his eyes wandering through the paper to see if he can take anything out of it that could be used. As he reaches for the pencil again, there´s a knock on the door and he rolls his eyes, pushing everything to the side again before heading to it.

He arches an eyebrow as he sees Maxence standing there, hands inside his pockets and a little awkward smile on his face. It takes him a moment to actually be able to do anything, but he tries his best to put on a smile.

"Hey."

"Hey, I didn´t mean to disturb you in any way, but I was wondering if Timothée is here?"

"I´m sorry, but he went to his friend´s house to help him out with some stuff, he won´t be back home until later."

"Oh, okay, that´s alright." He nods, looking around awkwardly. "It´s just, I haven´t seen him ever since he got fired and I was wondering how he was doing."

"What did you say?" Armie asks as Maxence looks at him confused. "Timothée got fired?"

"You didn´t know," Maxence whispers, his face turning into a mix of fear and regret. "Look, Armie, I didn´t..."

"When did that happen?"

"I seriously shouldn´t say anything else, I´ve clearly talked too much already."

"Maxence, when did this happen?"

"Last week, after his dad showed up drunk at the supermarket."

"His dad was at the supermarket?" Armie sighs, trying his best to remain calm.

"I´m sorry, okay? I never meant to cause any trouble, I was just wondering how he was."

"Don´t worry, you didn´t cause any trouble, everything is alright."

"I should just go now, I´ll talk to Timothée some other time."

"I´ll make sure he knows you stopped by." He says with a fake smile plastered on his face before closing the door, his eyes wandering around the room before he grabs his phone. He dials Timothée´s number, stares into the tiny screen of his phone, but then turns it off. 

This is not the type of thing to discuss over the phone.

  
  
  


****************

  
  


Timothée sits on the bed with his back against the bedpost, flipping through the pages of one of the many books Zac has it lying on his bed. He looks up as the door opens, a little smile on his face as his friend appears there with a large bowl of popcorn in his hands. He reaches for the bowl, taking a handful and stuffing inside his mouth, an eyebrow arched as Zac hands him a piece of paper.

He takes it, his eyes wandering through it quickly, before he turns back at Zac with an inquisitive look on his face. "What´s this?"

"Hate me all you want, but I told my dad you got fired and he came up with a little list of places he knows that might hire you."

"What? Zac, you didn´t have to do this."

"Can´t you just say thank you and move on?" Timothée sighs and Zac shrugs, throwing himself on the bed beside him. "Look, I know it´s not easy for you to accept help, that you don´t want to be a burden to others or whatever, but I´m your best friend and I will always do whatever I can to help you."

"Thank you," Timothée says with a little smile. "You really didn´t have to do this, but I appreciate it. And just so you know, I´m trying to work on this whole thing and be more accepting of other´s helping me."

"That´s good, because there´s nothing wrong in admitting you might need help, specially when you have friends who love you and are willing to help."

"I know. Just be patient with me, I´m gonna get there."

Zac nods while reaching for some popcorn. "Have you told Armie about it yet?"

"No, not yet."

"May I ask why?"

"Armie can barely hear my father´s name, Zac. Whenever we mention him for some reason, I can see the anger in his eyes and I just..." he trails off, a sigh escaping him as he shakes his head.

"Armie loves you, so it´s understanding that he will get angry when he thinks about the things your father has put you through, Timothée. I know I get extremely frustrated whenever I think of how I didn´t noticed the signs, how blind I was to everything and I get angry when I think about how I could have helped you a lot earlier. The thing is, I get it if you ́re somehow scared of Armie doing anything reckless and dangerous, but he´s smarter than this."

"I know Armie and I know that he would never hurt anyone intentionally, but sometimes I think of him trying to confront my father and it never it ends well. I don´t want to cause him any pain, Zac."

"I get that, specially after what happened when him and your father were actually in the same room together, but I still think it´s better if you tell him the truth, because if he finds out by someone else, it will be a lot worse."

Timothée nods slowly, his eyes wandering back to the books lying in the bed as he sighs. Can he ever find some peace?

  
  
  


**************

  
  


Timothée stands by the front door, two plastic bags on his hands and his eyes staring into the big block numbers that are stuck on the white door. He bites on his lip, millions of thoughts going through his head as he tries to come up with a way to bring up the subject. He knows Armie will probably get mad and disappointed at him for keeping something like this from him, but he knows Zac was right and he has to do it before it´s too late.

He takes a deep breath and opens the door, his eyes scanning the room in search of Armie as he walks in. It doesn´t take much long for Armie to pop out of the bathroom, his blue eyes instantly finding him, who tries to put on his best smile. They reach each other by the kitchen counter and Timothée places the bags down on it, his eyes wandering from it to Armie, who seems serious and kind of tired.

"I brought us dinner as promised, but I would like to talk to you for a moment before we eat."

Armie nods. "I want to talk to you too, and I hope we can start by you telling me why the hell you´ve been lying to me for over a week basically."

"What?"

"Why didn´t you tell me you got fired, Timothée?"

"How did you..."

"Maxence came here looking for you, he wanted to know how you were doing since he hasn´t seen you since you got fired."

Timothée sighs, burying his face in his hands for a second before he looks back at Armie, an apologetic look in his eyes. "I´m sorry, okay? I know I made a mistake, I should have told you what happened as soon as I got back home, but I didn´t want to worry you."

"You didn´t want to worry me? Timothée you lost your job, something that meant a lot to you and you chose to keep it from me. That´s a lot more worrying to me than you losing your job."

"Maybe I didn´t think things through, but we already have so much going on in our lives, Armie. Besides, we were actually going through a good time, we were having fun and I didn´t want to disturb those moments."

"Is that really it? Or you chose to keep this from me because you didn´t want me to know your father was the reason why this happened?" Timothée curses under his breath, shaking his head as Armie nods. "Yeah, your little friend made sure to tell me it was because of your father that you got fired."

"And look at you right now, look how angry you are already. It´s always the same thing when he´s involved, you get angry, frustrated and I don´t want you to feel this way, Armie."

"Too bad that´s something neither one of us can actually control, Timothée. Your father angers me, but that´s no reason for you to lie to me for a whole fucking week. I could have helped you get over this, I could help you find another place to work, instead I spent the last week thinking you were leaving the house to go to work, instead you were probably at Zac´s place or wandering around town."

"I´m sorry, okay? I never meant to keep this up for so long, it was only supposed to be a day or two."

Armie scoffs, shaking his head. "Oh yeah, I´m feeling much better now."

"Armie..."

"And if that´s not enough, I have to find out through Maxence? Because, of course, even he is aware of this and I am not."

"Maxence was there when everything happened, Armie, that´s why he knows. Is not like I chose to tell him while lying to you."

"Excuse me if I might not fully believe you right now."

Timothée frowns, his eyes wandering through Armie´s face. "Wait a second, is this really about me lying to you or you´re just mad because Max knew and you didn´t?"

"Of course I´m mad this guy knew and I didn´t. You barely know him and yet you rather tell him about this than me, your own boyfriend. What am I supposed to think?"

"For fuck´s sake, Armie, Maxence worked with me, he saw everything happening and that´s why he knows." He sighs, shaking his head. "I seriously can´t believe you´re twisting this into another one of your little jealousy scenes."

"Oh, now I´m the bad guy in the story?"

Timtohée groans. "Look, I get it if you´re mad at me for lying to you, you should be. But if you´re mad simply because Maxence knew and you didn´t, then we can stop this conversation right here. I´ve said before and I´ll say it again, there´s absolutely no reason for you to be jealous of him."

"How can I not be jealous of him when you have secrets with him? Or when he´s suddenly always around you?"

"Always around me? We´ve hung out outside of the supermarket three or four times, in which you showed up all of them and if I remember correctly, every single time, it was with you that I ended the day. I might have lied to you about me getting fired, Armie, but I never gave you a reason to doubt my love for you."

"I never said I doubted that."

"Then why don´t you trust me when I say there´s no reason for you to worry about him? We´re friends, Armie, just like I am friends with Jake and Mark. Besides, let´s not forget that he has a boyfriend and it was you he tried to kiss once, not me."

Armie sighs, shaking his head as Timothée takes a step back and turns around, heading to the door. "Where you going?"

"I´m going out."

"What? No, you can´t just leave like that."

"Armie, I made a mistake by not telling you the truth right away, but right now you´re using that to throw something at me that´s not true at all. Even if Maxence did have feelings for me, which he doesn´t, it wouldn´t matter because you are the one I love, you are the one I want to be with. But right now, I think we both could use some time to think about the things we did."

"Timothée..."

"I´m gonna go for a walk, okay? I´ll be back later or I´ll just go back to Zac´s place, I don´t know yet."

"Timothée, don´t do this."

"You need to understand that there´s no one else for me but you. But I also need to deal with the fact I should have been honest with you from the beginning. We can talk more tomorrow once we´re both more calm, okay?"

"Tim... I´m sorry, I didn´t mean to..."

"I know. I didn´t mean to hurt you either."

He tries to smile, a couple of tears streaming down his face as he walks out the door. He takes a couple of deep breaths, trying to clear his head before heading down the street, his eyes down and his hands tucked inside his pockets.

  
  
  


*****************

  
  


Timothée keeps his head down as he walks down the quiet streets, the smell of the ocean getting more intense with each step he takes. He managed to control himself, push back the tears that were still threatening to fall, but all he could hear in his head was Armie´s voice and the tone of disappointment on it.

He knew he had messed up by not telling him the truth right away, even if deep down he had good intentions to do so, but he also knew it wasn´t right of Armie to act the way he did. Their relationship was the most important thing in his life, how could Armie ever think he would allow anyone to come in between them?

Timothée sighs, heading to the pier as some kids pass him by running. They have ice creams on their hands and wide smiles on their faces, which actually causes him to smile too. They look so carefree and innocent, he kind of misses the time he was like that too. No worries, just fun and games.

As he turns back around, Timothée immediately sees Maxence leaned against the railing, a beer in his hand as he stares into the ocean. He walks over to him and stands there quietly, his hands resting on the railing as he watches the waves crash into the shore.

"Tough night?" Maxence asks after taking a sip of his beer, his eyes wandering to Timothée, who nods. "Let me guess, you and Armie had a fight after I opened my big mouth?"

"Yep. But don´t worry, this is not really your fault."

"Well, it kind of is."

"You didn´t know I was keeping it a secret, Max, you did nothing wrong."

Maxence sighs, turning on his side. "Is he really mad?"

"He is, but it´s not just that, which makes things a lot more complicated."

"He´s still jealous of me?" Timothée looks at him with an eyebrow arched and Maxence shrugs. "It wasn´t that hard to notice, you know? He clearly didn´t feel comfortable around me and I could tell it wasn´t because of what happened when we were in high school, so it could only mean one thing."

"He got mad over the lie, of course, but the fact you knew made things worse. He wouldn´t listen when I said you were there and that´s why you knew."

"Would it help if I stopped by and talked to him?"

Timothée scoffs, shaking his head. "That would probably make things worse, Max."

"Even if I tell him that I´ll be leaving town in a while and he won´t have to deal with me anymore?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Timothée asks confused. "Why are you leaving town?"

"You see, for the past three weeks Axel and I had some serious conversations about our future. He was supposed to stay in France until August next year, but he got a job proposal with one of his teachers, to start as soon as school is over. We talked a lot about it, trying to figure out how to solve this and just about four days ago, I decided that I will move to Paris to be with him."

"Are you serious? Wow, that´s amazing and a bit shocking too, to be honest."

"Yeah, it definitely wasn´t something neither of us were expecting, but it feels right."

"When are you moving?"

"Oh, that will probably take two or three months. We have some stuff to deal with and Axel is gonna start looking for a place for us to live, but yeah, I´ll be gone soon."

"What did your parents say?"

"There were mixed emotions on that conversation. While they are happy to see me go back to our country and get to live more of our culture, they are also very sad to see me leaving. But maybe that will give them an excuse to go to France more often."

Timothée smiles, nodding his head slowly. "I hope you´ll be very happy on this new chapter of your life, Max. I don´t know Axel, but he seems like a great guy and judging by how you smile while talking about him, I can see he makes very happy."

"He does and this is why I´m doing this. It´s scary as hell to leave everything I built here in the last twelve years behind, but I know it´s worth it." He stares at Timothée for a while, before nudging him. "Love is always worth it, even if sometimes it might cause some trouble."

"What are you talking about?"

"Jealousy is a fucking stupid thing, but it´s also something we can´t control, Tim. I´ve been through a situation similar to yours, it was frustrating and tiring, but once we realized we were allowing our egos to take over, things got easier to deal with. I know that right now you might be annoyed at Armie for feeling the things he is feeling, but don´t let that drive you apart."

"That´s not what I want at all, I just want to be at peace with him."

"Then go back home, sit down with him and talk about this, even if it´s complicated and tiring. You both need to listen to each other, share what you are feeling about this situation, because that´s the only way to solve it."

Timothée bites on his lip, frowning his eyebrows. "The irony of you giving me relationship advice is not lost on me at all."

"Tell Armie I was the one who sent you back to his arms, maybe it will give me some credit with him."

"Maybe," Timothée says between chuckles. "Thank you, Max. You´ve been a really good friend."

Maxence shrugs. "I´ve seen you and Armie together, I can see how much you love each other and I would hate to be the one to cause any kind of trouble between you two. I know how it feels to love someone that deep, so I wish nothing but the best for the both of you."

"Thank you," Timothée says with a smile. "Maybe I should go back now, see if he´s calmer and if we can actually have a serious and decent conversation."

"You do that."

"Thank you once again."

"No need for that, it´s alright."

"I hope we can see each other soon, now that you´re leaving, I wanna make sure we enjoy the time we have."

"Stop by at the supermarket someday, we´ll have a chat."

"I´ll do that," he stands his hand out and chuckles as Maxence pulls him into a quick hug, patting his back. "Good night, Max."

"Good night and good luck."

"Thanks, I might need that."

  
  


*****************

  
  


Armie sits on the floor, his back leaned against the bed as he stares into space, his fingers absent-mindedly tapping on his thighs. He´s sad, frustrated and most of all mad with himself for acting the way he did. While he knows Timothée should have told him the truth from the beginning, he is also aware he should have listened to him and supported him instead of indulging in yet another pathetic jealousy fit.

He hears footsteps approaching his bedroom and looks up, a sigh of relief escaping him as he sees the door open and Timothée appear in front of him. He was scared he would ditch him for the rest of the night, ignore him and not even give him the chance to try and make things right. 

They stare at each other in complete silence for a minute, almost as if testing the waters and making sure they are both in better conditions to get back into this conversation. As Timothée closes the door behind him, Armie takes a deep breath, gaining enough courage to say everything he has been thinking of for the past two hours.

"Look, I wanted to..."

"Before you go, can I just say something real quick? Otherwise, I´m afraid I´ll just make a mess out of everything." Armie says quickly before Timothée even has the chance to say anything else. He bites his lip, waits for him to nod and takes another deep breath, his hands turning into fists as he tries to control his apprehension. "I´m sorry I acted the way I did, Tim. I was mad that you decided not to tell me about you getting fired, but I allowed my jealousy to speak louder than anything else and I just acted like a jerk and made a fool of myself. The thing is, I never fell in love before, I never felt for anyone what I feel for you. But falling for you also made me realize there´s a lot of other emotions that come along with loving someone, one of them being jealousy, which I honestly know it sucks, but it´s also something I can´t really control."

Timothée nods slowly while taking a step closer to Armie.

"I don´t know why Maxence´s presence triggers me so much, I seriously don´t, but all I can tell you right now is that I´m gonna try my best to work on this. You are free to have whoever you want as a friend and I am not gonna let my jealousy drive us apart, I would never forgive myself if I did that. So, please, believe me when I say I am sorry and I will try my best not to make the same mistake again. I love you too much to lose you over silly things."

Timothée lets out a breath and walks over to Armie, taking a seat beside him on the floor. He frames his face, a little smile coming to his lips as Armie leans in to his touch.

"First, you´re a moron for even thinking that someone could come in between us, because I honestly can´t see my life going forward without you by my side, Armie. You´re the most important thing that has ever happened to me, you give me hope for a better future and you make me believe in myself. My life is only remotely worth it because I have you to share all this craziness with, so don´t you ever think, even for a second, that there´s a reason for you to be jealous of anyone. You´re all I see and all I want for me."

"I am a moron, but please remember that is only because my fear of losing you is too much."

"That ain´t happening," Timothée reassures him with a smile. "But I also have to apologize. I love you more than anything in the world, but the fear inside of me of anything happening to you because of my father is also incredibly big. I see the anger in your eyes when we mention him, so when I got fired because of him, I knew you would be mad and I didn´t want that, I didn´t want you to feel like you had to do something about him, like I know you do everytime something happens. I never meant to keep the lie, it was only supposed to be for a day or two, but we were in such a good place, so happy and enjoying life. Bringing that up seemed like something that would just attract more sadness. I´m sorry."

"It´s okay, Tim. It was sad to find out that you kept something like this from me, but I can understand your motive. Just promise me you won´t do that again?"

"I promise you I won´t keep anything from you anymore."

"And I promise you that I will work on my jealousy and try to be nicer with Maxence."

"Thank you."

"Thank you for putting up with my bullshit, I know I can be annoying sometimes."

"We´re all annoying sometimes, Armie, that´s what makes us human." He smiles, leaning his forehead against his and closes his eyes for a brief second. "But despite your annoying moments, I love you more than anything and you better never forget that."

"I love you, too."


	42. Chapter 42

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heartbreaking revelations

**Venice Ink**

**Part 42**

  
  
  


Timothée looks through the many shelves at the record store, his eyes wandering through an immense variation of guitars, which he obviously can´t tell the difference, but appreciates the beauty of them anyway. He bites on his lip, a little frown on his face as he turns on his heels, scanning the other side of the store.

He hears Lois´ voice behind him and turns around, a smile on his face as he sees her holding a Ukulele. He walks over to her, takes the instrument in his hands and gives it a good look before turning his attention back to Lois, who nods her head enthusiastically.

"You sure he will like this?"

"Yeah, he has talked about buying one before."

"I never would have guessed. But to be completely honest, your cousin is constantly surprising me."

Lois chuckles, crossing her arms as she leans against the wall. "Now, you do remember his birthday is only by the end of the month, right?"

"Yes, Lois, I know when my boyfriend´s birthday is," he says while rolling his eyes. "But we´re about to celebrate three months together and I want to give him something nice."

"Three months," Lois mumbles while shaking her head. "You guys have been through so much already, it´s hard to imagine you´ve only been together for three months."

"Trust me, I know the feeling. My life seems to have been even more chaotic ever since I met Armie, but knowing I have him to turn to when things get bad, knowing he´s always ready to help and support me, that´s what has kept me going."

"You guys have a relationship that I kind of envy, you know?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You´ve been through so much and there were moments where things seemed lost, at least for someone who was on the outside, yet you have always found a way to solve it. Not only that, you did it by actually talking to one another, sharing your fears and insecurities. I´ve never had this kind of relationship with anyone I went out with."

"Not even Jake?"

"Jake?" She scoffs. "Jake and I started dating when we were fourteen years old, Timothée, we knew nothing about relationships or ourselves for that matter, probably one of the reasons why things didn´t end well. And now...well, now we´re just hooking up from time to time, having fun, but not really taking anything seriously."

Timothée shrugs, leaning besides Lois on the wall. "Something tells me he would be willing to take things seriously. He's twenty-one now, he´s grown up and learned more about himself and life."

"Oh no, please, tell me you guys don´t talk about me when you´re hanging out."

"Sorry, can´t really that."

Lois grunts, shaking her head as Timothée chuckles. "I should have know I was the topic of some conversations."

"Trust me, it´s all very respectful. Armie wouldn´t allow anything differently."

"No one wants to hear about their cousin´s sex life, right?" Timothée nods and Lois chuckles. "So? Are you taking the Ukulele or not?"

"Yeah, but if he doesn´t like it, I´ll kick your ass."

"Trust me, he´ll love it." She says while wrapping an arm around Timothée´s shoulder and leading him towards the cashier. "Do you guys actually have plans for the anniversary or you just buying him a gift?"

"We´re going away for the weekend, actually."

"Oh, that´s fancy, I like it."

"Not that fancy considering neither of us has that much money, but we saw some nice little place we could stay. I think it´s gonna be good for us to relax, forget about everything else around us and just focus on each other."

"Meaning, you´ll have lots of sex during the weekend." Timothée chuckles, nudging her softly. "What? Am I wrong?"

Timothée remains silent for a second, but then lets a cheeky grin to take over his face. "No, not really."

  
  


*************

  
  
  
  


The sun is starting to set, shades of orange and dark blue filling the sky as Lois stands on the sidewalk, arms crossed above her chest as she watches Timothée walk out of the house with a couple bags, struggling to keep everything in his hands. She chuckles, shaking her head and rushes over to him, taking one of the bags and following him to the car, where Armie is placing everything on the trunk.

Timothée sighs, leans against the car and watches as Armie takes a few minutes to fix everything and then slams the door shut. He smiles as he walks over to him, slides his hand through his waist and pulls him closer to him, placing a quick and sweet kiss on his lips.

"Can´t you two stay two minutes without making out?" Lois whines as she pulls them apart, standing in between them as Armie chuckles. "Also, I thought you guys were staying away for the weekend? That trunk has enough bags for a whole week."

"Oh, c´mon, that´s not true."

"Besides, we´re just very cautious guys, who don´t want to go through any kind of trouble."

"You´re saying this guy right here," she says while pointing at Armie. "Is a cautious man? The one who loves to break in a private skate park and graffiti in illegal places? C´mon, Timmy, you´re better than this."

He stares ta Lois for a second, before letting out a chuckle. "Okay, maybe I am a cautious guy and I´m doing it for both of us."

"Now that I can believe in."

"You guys do know I´m standing right here, right?" Armie says with a little annoyed look on his face as Lois chuckles. He rolls his eyes, nudges her slightly and then pushes her away from the car, opening the door to the passenger side. "I think it´s time we leave, Tim. It´s only a two hour drive to Solvang, but we might need to stop and I don´t want to drive until late."

"Yeah, we should go."

Lois smiles at them, her arms sliding to their shoulders and pulling them closer to her. "I want you guys to have fun, okay? Forget about everything else in the world and focus only on you two. Turn off your phones if you must, but try to relax and just be yourselves. Enjoy the hotel too, you´re paying for it and should make the best off of that place, and yes, I mean have lots of sex...but be safe."

"Oh for fuck´s sake, can you stop?" Armie groans as Lois turns to him with a smile. "We´ll have fun, just stop talking about us having sex, I´m begging you."

"Okay, I´ll stop. But seriously guys, I hope you have a lot of fun. Take some pictures too, I´ve heard Solvang is a very cute little town and I want to see as much as possible."

"We´ll do that," Timothée says before placing a kiss on her cheek. "Now we have to go. Stay safe and call us if anything happens."

"Nothing will happen, stop worrying."

"See you on Monday, cousin."

"See you guys."

Armie opens the door for Timothée and watches as he hops in, quickly putting on his seatbelt and focusing his attention on the glove compartment, where he gets the cd collection. He smiles at him and then turns to Lois, giving her one more quick hug, his finger tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear.

"Call me if anything happens, okay? I mean it."

"I´m a big girl, Armie, I can take care of myself."

"I know that, but if you need anything, don´t hesitate to call."

"Don´t worry. Now go, have fun with your boyfriend, you both need it."

Armie nods, kisses her cheek and then rushes over to the other side of the car, hopping on it as fast as he can. He puts on the seatbelt, starts the car and gives it a quick honk, driving off straight afterwards. He smiles as he watches the Sun set on the horizon, a sense of freedom and excitement taking him over. He looks over at Timothée, who´s holding a cd with 80´s rock written on it and nods, a chuckle escaping him as he sees the grin on Timothée´s face.

The music suddenly fills the car and Timothée starts bobbing his head up and down, his feet on the dash and his fingers tapping on the door. He sings along, a happy and relaxed look on his face that honestly makes Armie feel like the happiest man in the world.

As the song reaches its chorus, Armie can´t help but tap his fingers on the steering wheel to the rhythm, his head also bobbing as he feels Timothée slide a hand to his shoulder. Soon enough, they are both singing along as loud as they possibly can, little chuckles escaping them from time to time.

 

 **//now_playing//** _Sweet Child O´ Mine - Guns´n´Roses_

  
  


**************

  
  
  


Timothée places his bags down on the floor by the door, briefly looking over his shoulder at Armie before he wanders around the room, his green eyes taking in every little detail. He smiles at himself, his hand sliding through the bed sheets, the nightstand and the light yellow walls. He stands by the window, opens the curtains and takes a look outside, the trees blowing slightly with the wind, beautiful danish architecture all around and a beautiful -even if small- pool on the hotel´s backyard, illuminated by little twinkle lights.

He takes in a deep breath and closes his eyes as he feels Armie´s hands slide through his waist, his lips laying a soft kiss on his neck. He turns around on his arms, his hands resting on his biceps as they stare at each other for a couple of seconds, no words necessary at the moment. Timothée leans on his tip toes, grabs a handful of Armie´s shirt and pulls him down, kissing him slowly and passionately.

He smiles through the kiss as Armie takes a tight grip on his waist, guiding them around the room without ever breaking the kiss. A few soft chuckles echo as they stumble around the room, nearly falling a couple of times before they finally reach the bed and throw themselves on it. Timothée smirks, hooking his leg around Armie´s body and rolling them over on the bed, so he can hover on top of him.

Timothée smiles down at him, his fingers gently tracing his ongrowing beard, before he leans down to kiss him quickly. "This is kind of surreal, you know? I´ve never been this far away from Venice, let alone had the chance to be in a hotel."

"I promise you we´ll do this a lot more often in the future. I´ll show you around all my favorite places, then we´ll meet new places together and figure out our favorites. I didn't forget about our road trip, you know?"

Timothée chuckles. "You´re really excited about that road trip, aren´t you?"

"You and me, driving around the country, of course I´m excited about it. Besides, road trips are great for meeting tiny little places that are almost forgotten by most people, you´ll absolutely love it."

"Armie, when I´m with you, even the most mundane thing is pretty awesome."

Armie smiles, tucking a few curls behind Timothée´s ear before he rolls them over again and pins his arms above his head. He watches as Timothée smirks and shrugs his shoulders, leaning down to place a couple of kisses down the bit of skin he can find on his neck.

"Since this is all a brand new experience for you, I say we take advantage of every little moment we have and enjoy it to the fullest."

"Do you have any ideas of how to do that, Mr. Artist?"

"A couple of them," he says with a smirk.

"Well, tell me about it then."

"Well, we could start by making a mess out of this bed or we could order some food and watch a movie."

"Food or sex...that´s a tough choice, Armie."

"Believe me, I know."

"You think we can find a way to blend the two of them?"

Armie chuckles as Timothée winks. "We could always order the food and try to get it done before they deliver."

"Are you seriously gonna be that fast?"

"I can be fast," he shrugs. "Wanna try it out?"

Timothée makes a face, pretending to think hard about the situation before he wraps his arms around Armie´s neck and pulls him down, their lips locked together in a matter of seconds. He bites of his bottom lip, smiles as Armie moans and slides a hand down in between them and inside his jeans.

"Forget the food," he whispers on Armie´s ear. "I rather have you right now."

  
  
  


****************

 

It was only the first day of their weekend alone, but they made sure to go out and explore the little town as much as they possibly could, and once tiredness took them over, they made it back to the hotel, hopped on the shower and ordered some food. Now as the night progresses, Armie and Timothée sit across from each other on the bed, boxes of take out food in between them as they talk and laugh.

Timothée can´t help but steal quick glances at the watch on the bedside table, eagerly waiting until it strikes midnight so he can give Armie his gift. He notices Armie´s look of confusion and a little grin forms on his face, his cheeks turning a bit pink as he tries to sit still.

"Why you keep staring at that watch?" Armie finally asks.

"What? I don´t know what you´re talking about."

"Seriously?"

Timothée chuckles, shaking his head. "I was waiting until it turned midnight so I could give you your present."

"My present?" As Timothée nods, Armie shakes his head. "Tim, I´ve told you there was no need to buy me anything."

"I know, but I wanted to do it anyway."

"You´ve been fired just three weeks ago, you should save your money, not waste it on unnecessary things."

"Unnecessary things? Armie, you´re my boyfriend, the reason why I find joy and hope in life. You´re everything to me and I wanted to give you something, thank you for all that you´ve done for me the four months we´ve known each other, not only for the time we´ve been together."

"Still, it doesn´t seem right that you use your money buying me stuff."

"Well, you´re my boyfriend and I have all the right to buy you whatever I want."

"I feel like I´ve heard something like this before," Armie says with an arched eyebrow as Timothée smirks.

"I might be using your lines against you, mister," he winks and then leans over, reaching for something under the bed. He bites his lip, handing the package to Armie, who can´t help but smile. "It look awful, but it´s not exactly something easy to wrap."

"A Ukulele," Armie murmurs as he unwraps the package, his eyes nearly glowing as he looks from the instrument to Timothée. "How did you..."

"Lois might have helped me a little," he says with a shrug. "Did you like it?"

"Tim, I love it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it´s incredible. Fuck, this is awesome, I can´t believe you bought me a Ukulele."

Timothée chuckles and leans in, placing a quick kiss on Armie´s lips. "I´m glad you liked it. Happy anniversary, Armie, and thanks for being the best boyfriend anyone could ask for."

"Happy anniversary, babe," he says before kissing Timothée once more. He jumps out of the bed, rushing over to his bag and takes a package of it, a wide grin on his face as he walks back to the bed, seeing the look of curiosity on Timothee´s face. "I hope you´ll like this. I collected a couple of things I wanted to give you and made this little thing."

Timothée frowns as he takes the package in his hands, noticing is a bit heavier than he would have expected. He stares at it for a few seconds, trying to figure out what could it possibly be, then quickly rips off the wrapping paper and removes the top, a smile taking him over as he sees the content.

The first thing he sees is a little framed artwork from Armie, which he carefully takes in his hand. He allows his finger to gently trace the illustration, his heart beating a little faster as he feels himself getting emotional.

"I know you´re staying at the house for now, but I hope soon enough you and your mom can be together in a place of your own, so I´d like you to have something I did on your wall. Make sure you remember me whenever I´m not around."

"As if I could ever forget you," Timothée says while rolling his eyes. He turns his attention back to the package, a little giggle escaping him when he takes a framed photo of them in his hands. He remembers the day it was taken, when they went out to the beach with their friends and Lois snapped the photo in a moment they weren´t really expecting.

The wide grin he sports on the photo, kind of mirrors the one that soon takes over his face as he reaches out for yet another item on the package. This time is a little envelope, which he opens to find a gift card from a fancy skate shop back in Venice Beach. He looks up at Armie, slightly confused as he shrugs.

"Your skate is looking great, thanks to me, but I figured you could use a new one. A great skater like you must have the best at your disposal."

"You´re an idiot," he mocks as Armie chuckles. "But I love you anyway."

"There´s one more."

"I´m starting to feel a bit lame for only getting you a Ukulele," Timothée admits as he reaches for yet another envelope, this one a bit bigger. He opens it, eyes widening as he takes out two concert tickets from it. "Blink 182?"

"They´re playing downtown Los Angeles on my birthday, so I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to go and see them live."

"Armie, this is incredible."

"I´m so glad you liked it," Armie says with a smile as Timothée shakes his head and pulls him closer, kissing him softly on the lips. Armie slides a hand through his waist, deepening the kiss for a bit before pulling away. "Well, maybe you really really liked it."

"I loved it, every little thing you bought and the thought you put into it." Timothée strokes his cheek. "Thank you for being such an incredible human being."

"Thank you for allowing me to be part of your life," he says before throwing himself on top of Timothée, pushing some of the boxes to the side. He hears his giggles and smiles wide, his arms wrapping tightly around him as they fall down to the bed.

  
  


****************

  
  


Timothée laughs as they stumble inside the house, Armie´s arms perfectly wrapped around his waist while he grabs a fistful of his shirt. He leans in to place a few quick kisses on his lips, then pulls away, forcing himself away from his grip as Armie groans and tries to reach out for him again. 

He shakes his head, but laughs anyway when Armie grabs his hand and forces him back into his embrace. He stares up at him, adoration and love flooding him, the side effects of such a beautiful, fun and relaxed weekend still taking him over.

"I really need a shower," he mumbles while wrapping his arms around Armie´s neck. "I feel like there´s dirt from the road all over me."

"I can help you with that."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. I mean, you know how hard can it get to clean your back, so if you need any help with that, I´m the perfect guy for the job."

"I don´t know, I´ll have to think about it."

"Don´t you think I have what it takes?"

Timothée shrugs. "I think you might distract yourself pretty easily."

"That might be a problem," he says seriously. "But I can try to put on my best behavior."

"What if I don´t want you on your best behavior?"

Armie smirks, his hands sneaking inside Timothée´s shirt. "Then I´ll guarantee you´ll have a shower you´re never gonna forget."

Timothée chuckles and kisses him softly, turning around on his arms as they stumble around the living room. They stop once they hear a door open and look to the side, watching as Lois exits her room, a little grin on her face.

"Didn´t you guys just spent the whole weekend together? How can you still be all over each other even after that? Don´t you ever get tired of looking at each other´s faces?"

Armie and Timothée look at one another for a brief second, then turn back to Lois, shaking their heads. "Not really."

She chuckles, rolling her eyes while she throws herself on the couch. "How was the weekend?"

"Perfect," Timothée says while leaning against the couch, his hands resting on Armie´s shoulder. "The hotel was small and not very fancy, but it was everything we needed. The town is really cute and calm, so we got the chance to visit quite a lot of places and still relax."

"I´m glad you guys took some time to yourselves."

"How are things going around here?" Armie asks.

"Mark had a little party at his place on Saturday night and made a big mess, I have a feeling that his parents are not gonna be happy about it. But other than that, nothing interesting happened around here. Venice remains the same as it was when you guys left."

"Good," Armie says with a chuckle.

"Oh, aunt Julia called. She asked you to call her as soon as you were back home, she says it´s important."

Armie frowns, his eyes wandering from Lois to Timothée. He nods slowly, pecks Timothée´s lips and reaches for his cellphone on the backpack, scrolling through the contact list in search of his mother´s name. He presses the phone against his ear, wandering through the living room until his mother´s voice fills his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey, mom."

"Armie, sweetie, it´s nice to hear your voice. How are you?"

"I´m doing alright. Lois said you called me, is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is okay. I just needed to let you know something important."

Armie arches an eyebrow, but remains in silence as he hears his mom talking on the other side of the line, a small smile appearing on the corner of the lips. He nods to himself a couple of times, hums a quick  _ yes _ here and there, only to let out a loud sigh at some point, causing Lois and Timothée to look at one another confused.

"Is okay, mom. Thank you so much for this, I´ll let you know everything. Bye."

"Is everything okay?" Timothée quickly asks.

"Everything is perfect."

"What happened?"

Armie takes a deep breath, his hands cradling Timothée´s face. "My mom has found someone who´s going to take care of your mother´s case, Tim."

"What?"

"We have a lawyer, someone who is very influential and has dealt with this subject many times."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am." He says with a smile while bringing Timothée closer. "She´s one of my mom´s friends and she is brilliant, you and your mother are gonna be alright."

Timothée lets out a sigh, a wide smile taking him over as he wraps his arms around Armie, hugging him as tight as he possibly can. He feels a couple of tears clouding his vision, but he couldn´t care less; hope is finally taking him over again and there´s only one thing he can think of right now.

"We need to go tell her. She needs to know this nightmare is coming to and end."

"Yeah, yeah, let´s go tell her."

"What? No, you should stay here and..."

"Stop it. If you think I´ll let you go there alone, you´re insane. I´m going with you, specially because I´m the one with the information she needs to know."

Timothée chuckles, shaking his head. "Okay, we need to go then. I can´t... I can´t wait to see the look on her face."

Armie nods, places a quick kiss on his lips and then reaches for the car keys in his pocket. He takes Timothée´s hands in his, smiles over at Lois and waves at her as she does the same.

"Tell your mom I´m really happy for her, Tim. And for you too, of course."

"Thanks."

"Now go, you two deserve to experience this news together."

Timothée nods, a wide smile on his face as he wraps an arm around Armie´s waist and walks over to the door. It seems like brighter days have finally arrived his way.

  
  
  


**************

 

Armie parks the car right in front of the house, his eyes immediately wandering to Timothée, who sits quietly on the passenger seat, despite the huge smile on his face. He can easily see how excited he is to tell his mother the good news, bring some sort of hope to her after long years of pain and insecurity.

He smiles softly, his hand sliding down Timothée´s shoulder as he turns to look at him. He leans closer, his thumb gently stroking the skin in between his hair and the neckline of his shirt. Despite the excitement, a part of Armie stills fears for Timothée being back inside that house, the memories he has of it not at all pleasant. If he could, he would keep him away from this place forever.

"You don´t need to come inside if you don´t want to," Timothée says while resting a hand on his thigh.

"Are you insane? I came all the way here with you, I´m not letting you go there all alone."

"I´m just gonna talk to my mom, Armie."

"And I can think of at least a dozen things that could go wrong if it ends up that he´s here. So no, you´re not going in alone."

"Okay, be my bodyguard then."

"That´s a job I will do with no complaints," Armie says with a chuckle before pecking his lips. He smiles, watches as Timothée rushes out of the car and sighs, pushing back all the negative thoughts he has inside of him.

He gets out of the car, eyes wandering around the neighborhood as he walks towards Timothée, taking his hand in his as they walk through the small front yard. They stop by the door, Timothée ready to knock when he realizes it´s open, so he simply pushes in, pulling Armie with him.

Armie´s eyes wander around the empty living room, his grip on Timothée´s hand tightening as they walk around the house in search of Eleanor. As Timothée leads him down the hallway, the sound of something falling to the ground echoes throughout the entire house and they stop immediately. Armie takes a deep breath, his eyes wandering to Timothée, who looks at him over his shoulder with a worried expression.

Armie simply gives him a reassuring smile, his hand sliding over to Timothée´s shoulder and bringing him closer to him. They take another step closer to the bedroom, another loud thud echoes and causes Timothée´s body to tremble and Armie freeze in place. Fear is slowly consuming him, but more for Timothée than himself.

"...because of you and that kid."

Matthew´s voice comes like thunder, loud and nearly shaking the house. He sounds sober, although Armie can´t really tell for sure. But he hears moving in the bedroom, things falling to the ground and glass shattering.

"No Matthew," Eleanor´s voice suddenly is heard and Armie notices a sigh of relief escaping Timothée. "I devoted my entire life to you, I stopped everything else because I wanted to be with you, because I loved you."

"Loved me? You loved me?"

"Deeply."

"So deeply you didn´t have a problem sleeping around with other men, my best friend included, and lying to me about the freak."

"He´s not a freak, he´s our son."

"Our son?" His laugh is loud and sarcastic, almost maniac. "Have you said this for so long that you´re starting to believe your own lies?"

"Matthew..."

"That freak is not my son, he is a little shit, who´s done nothing but ruin my life since day one. I was sixteen when you came to me and told me you were pregnant, when you fooled me into believing that it was my kid. And because I was a fool, and you were a good fuck back then, I allowed myself to fall into your trap. You and your faggot son took everything from me, Eleanor, my youth, my money...everything."

"Stop calling him that," she screams and Timothée shivers, his hand searching for Armie´s shirt, which he holds it tightly.

"But that´s what he is, isn´t it? A fucking cocksucker, who goes around fucking other men. He´s sick, a freak of nature and another proof you can´t do anything right in life. But why should I be surprised, right? You failed at everything, you can´t take care of the house, of yourself, how would you ever be able to raise a kid?"

"I wasn´t a good mother, I will admit that, but at least I have someone who will always be by my side. What do you have?"

"You´re an even bigger fool than what I imagined if you think your faggot son will be by your side once he finds out the truth about who you are."

"Shut up," Eleanor screams.

"Don´t like hearing the truth? You know fucking well that freak won´t be by your side once he finds out you´ve been lying to him his entire life."

"Shut up!"

"He´ll find out that you, just like his father, never truly cared about him."

"I´ve always cared."

"So much that you sent him away."

"Because of you! Because you drove him away from me, you´re the blame for all of this."

"I´m the only person who dared to stay around you, everyone else saw the shit person you were and left. I gave you food and a home, because you couldn´t do it for yourself. If you still have anything to call yours, is because of me, whore."

"You´re disgusting."

A loud thud follows and Timothée tries to move, but Armie makes sure to take a tight hold of his arm and keep him in place. As much as he knows how difficult it must be for him to stand there and hear all of this, Armie also knows if he barges inside that room right now, things can end even worse.

Then suddenly the door flies open and Matthew stands there, his raging eyes wandering straight to Timothée. Without even thinking, Armie takes a step forward, standing in front of Timothée, ready to take any hit Matthew dares to swing in their direction.

"I think I´ve made it very clear when I said I wanted you to stay away from this house," he says while taking a step forward, a little smirk on his face as he sees Armie move completely in front of Timothée. He turns to Eleanor, a stern look on his face. "Put him out of his misery, but make sure he is far away from here once I am back. I don´t want people like him inside my house."

Matthew walks past them with a mad look on his face, bumping shoulders with Armie, whose eyes follow him until he is completely out of sight. As he turns back around, ready to reach out for Timothée, Armie sighs, realizing he has already barged into the room.

"Is it true?!"

"Timothée, please..."

"Is it true?!"

"Timothée, please, try to calm down." Armie says while reaching out for his arm, trying to pull him closer.

"Calm down? Did you hear the same thing I did? Or am I suddenly going crazy?" He shouts before yanking his arm away from Armie´s grip and turning back to his mother. "Is it true?"

"Please, let me explain."

"That´s exactly what I want you to do," he says with a serious tone, taking a step closer to his mother, who can´t stop crying. He stares at her for a moment, then scoffs, shaking his head as he tries to control himself from screaming from the top of his lungs. "Oh my God. How could you do this to me? How could you keep something like this from me all this time?"

"I was only doing what I thought was best for you, Timothée."

"What was best for me? Staying in this house, going through all the shit that monster has put us through, that´s how you do what´s best for me? I´m sorry, I can´t understand the logic of that."

"Timothée, please, you have to try and understand me."

"You lied to me for almost eighteen years, you watched me nearly beg for some kind of affection from that man, you watched me cry myself to sleep wondering why my dad hated me and not even once you thought it would be nice to tell me the truth?"

"I wanted to tell you, many times, but I couldn´t find the courage to do it."

"So you just kept on lying, watching me suffer on the hands of someone who never even once had any feelings for me," he says while shaking his head and pushing some of his hair back. "I stayed in this house for you, I have bruises all over my body because I thought protecting you was the right thing to do and you never had the courage to tell me the truth? This isn´t just some random thing, mom, this is my life."

"Timothée..."

"My family is not who I always thought it was."

"I am your family."

"I used to think so, but now I don´t know anymore."

"Timothée," Eleanor nearly whispers as she steps closer to him and takes his hand in hers. "I love you more than anything in the world, I always did everything I could to protect you and I know I didn´t always do a good job, but..."

"Save it," he says while yanking his arm away from her grip. He takes a step back, shaking his head as he wipes away a couple of tears. "I don´t wanna listen to you anymore."

"Baby, please."

"I don´t wanna listen to you, I don´t care about your excuses."

"Timothée..." she pleads as Timothée turns around and storms out of the bedroom, not even looking back. As she takes a step further, about to go after him, she watches Armie take a hold of her arm, keeping her in place. "Armie."

"I don´t think going after him right now is a good idea, Mrs. Chalamet."

"But I need him to know I´m sorry."

"And you will do that, but right now he needs some time on his own. This is not going to be easy for him, just try to be patient, okay?"

Eleanor nods, wiping away a couple of her tears. "Please, take care of him."

"You don´t have to worry, Mrs. Chalamet, I won´t leave his side."

"Thank you."

Armie tries to smile, his hand gently squeezing her shoulder. "Mrs. Chalamet, there´s something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"My mother got you a lawyer," he says as she arches an eyebrow, slightly confused. "I talked to her about your situation and she contacted one of her friends. She is a brilliant lawyer, has won many cases much like yours and she will do everything to guarantee Mr. Chalamet doesn´t come close to you and Timothée anymore."

"Armie..." she shakes her head, her sobs intensifying. "Thank you so much for everything you´re doing for me and my son."

"You don´t have to thank me, Mrs. Chalamet. I love your son and I will do everything I can to make him happy, and a part of that is making sure you´re safe."

"Thank you anyway."

Armie nods. "I´ll keep contact, okay? I´ll make sure you know everything you need to know about the case and Timothée."

"You´re an angel."

"I´m only doing what´s right," he says before placing a kiss on her cheek. "I have to go now. Don´t worry, he´s gonna be okay."

Armie watches as Eleanor nods and smiles at her one more time before rushing out of the bedroom and down the hallway, his eyes wandering around the place for any signs of Timothée. He sees the front door open and walks outside, a sigh of relief escaping him when he sees he is inside the car, arms wrapped around his legs and his chin leaned against his knees.

He walks to the car and quickly gets in, his blue eyes wandering to Timothée as he fiddles with his fingers, trying to figure out what to say in such a moment. What can he say to make things better? Is there even anything he can say to help?

"Tim, you can..."

"Let´s just go home."

"Are you sure you don´t..."

"I want to go home."

Armie nods and starts the car, swiftly driving off down the road. He keeps himself quiet, his eyes focused on the road, but stealing quick glances at Timothée from time to time. His heart breaks seeing him this quiet, knowing that deep down he is completely broken. If there was one thing keeping Timothée strong and hopeful, was his relationship with his mother, the love and support they had with one another. To find out he had been lied to all this time, Armie can´t even begin to understand how much pain he must be going through.

He stops the car in front of his house, a sigh escaping him as he turns towards Timothée, about to say something when he simply steps out of the car. Armie watches him silently walk inside the house, the door slamming shut behind him, and leans back on the seat. He takes a couple of deep breaths, preparing himself for what he knows is gonna be a long night, and then quickly gets out of the car, heading inside the house as fast as possible.

He stops when he sees Lois and Jake standing by the kitchen counter, confused and worried looks on their faces. Armie simply shakes his head and heads down the hallway and over to his bedroom, closing the door behind him. He stands by the door, watching as Timothée paces around the room, his hands trembling and tears streaming down his face.

Their eyes meet all of a sudden and Timothée walks to him, headbutting him on the chest, his hands -now turned into fists- repeatedly hitting on his sides. Armie stands still, allowing Timothée to let out his frustration on him, because he knows that´s what he needs at the moment. When he finally stops, his breathing heavy and his arms tired, Timothée grips onto his shirt and allows himself to cry uncontrollably. 

"Armie..."

"It´s okay, I´m right here."

"I´m tired, I´m so, so tired."

"I know, I know."

"I just...," he hits his fist one more time on Armie´s chest, his legs trembling. "I just want my life to be normal."

Armie sighs, his own tears streaming down his cheeks as he wraps his arms around Timothée, hugging him as tight as he possibly can as they stand there in the middle of the room in complete silence.


	43. Chapter 43

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a little help from my friends

**Venice Ink**

**Part 43**

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**

The room has gone silent, low breathing the only audible sound as Armie kneels down on the floor and pulls the covers on top of Timothée, who's curled up on the bed, holding onto the pillow for dear life. He sighs, his heart breaking every single time he looks at him and sees just how crushed he is, how not even sleeping he can find some peace of mind and relax completely. 

He tries to smile, but the tears threatening to fall are stronger, so he gently tucks a few strands of hair behind his ear and gets back up, heading out of the bedroom without making a sound. Once he is out, Armie leans against the wall, a loud and frustrated sigh escaping him. This was supposed to be a good night, they should have been celebrating and yet, once again, everything just quickly turned into sadness. He was tired of all of this, he wanted nothing other than happiness for Timothée, but nothing seemed to work.

While he drags himself down the hallway, Armie can't help but replay the whole thing in his head, the things Matthew said, the angry look on Timothée's face and the desperation he saw on Eleanor's eyes as Timothée walked away from her. It was all too much and although he was trying to keep himself together for Timothée, he knew there was a part of him who also wanted to simply sit down and cry.

"Hey, you okay?"

Armie stops and looks up, his eyes wandering to Lois and Jake, who are on the kitchen. He nods slowly, makes his way over to them and hops on one of the stools, burying his face in his hands.

"Bro, we heard Timothée crying and screaming. What is going on?"

"I don't even know where to start," Armie mumbles as he feels a hand on his back. He looks up, takes a deep breath and nods at Jake when he hands him a glass of water, which he drinks in one go. "We went to tell Tim's mom we had finally found her a lawyer, only to get there and find his parents arguing."

"Oh my God," Lois says, the tone in her voice full of fear. "Please, tell me he didn't..."

"Matthew didn't do anything," Armie reassures her, who nods. "But we did find out he is not Timothée's father."

"What?"

"Eleanor kept this from him all this time."

"Damn it," Jake murmurs. "How could she simply keep something like this from him for seventeen years? He had the right to know the truth."

"She made a mistake, that's undeniable, but I still can't really be mad at her. That woman has been going through so much, I understand that she didn't want to do anything that would risk her relationship with her son. He's all she got."

"Fuck, I can't even imagine what he is feeling right now."

"He feels betrayed and like an idiot. He was so angry, Lois, I've never seen him like that before."

"Can you blame him? This guy has put him through hell for years, but he put up with his shit to protect his mother, now he finds out she's lying to him? He has been through a lot, but this is just too much."

"Okay," Jake says catching Armie and Lois' attention. "I've done my best to ignore whatever secret you guys have, but it's reached a point where I can't do it any longer. What the hell is wrong with Timothée? What is going on that often causes you three to whisper around and stuff?"

"Jake, I don't think this is something for us to tell you."

"It's okay," the voice echoes in the living room and they all turn to face Timothée, who stands there with his arms crossed and a tired look on his face. "I don't give a fuck who knows about this any longer."

"Tim, you should..."

"The man I thought was my father is an alcoholic and an abuser, Jake. And for the last four years I've been suffering in his hands, I've been slapped, punched and kicked. I've had my arm broken, black eyes and have been through some heavy verbal abuse, which made me feel like total shit and doubt anyone could ever actually care about me."

Jake's eyes wander from Timothée to Armie, who sits there quietly, tears slowly streaming down his face. He shakes his head while he looks back at Timothée, who slowly walks closer to them.

"Why you guys kept this from me for so long?"

"Tim didn't want anyone to know," Armie says.

"Tim, I'm so so sorry you had to go through this."

"It's not your fault, Jake, you don't have to apologize."

"I just feel like a terrible friend for not noticing anything."

"You're not a terrible friend, Jake, I'm just very good at hiding the evidence."

Jake shakes his head. "What can we do to help you?"

"My mom's got a lawyer, she's gonna help Timothée and his mom get rid of Matthew."

"Okay," he says. "Is there anything else we could do?"

"I don't think so," Timothée says. "But thank you anyway."

"Actually," Lois says while turning to Jake. "Doesn't your aunt work in an organization that helps victims of abuse? Maybe you could talk to her, see if there's anything they can do for Tim's mom. The lawyer can get Matthew far away from Tim and his mom, but they will both need some help and counseling."

"Lois, that's brilliant," Jake says while nodding. "I'll call her tomorrow morning, tell her everything and see how she can help us."

"Jake, you don't..."

"I know I don't have to, but you're my friend and I want to help you in any way I can."

As Timothée simply nods, Armie smiles and takes Jake's hand in his, squeezing it softly.

"Thank you for this."

"You're my brother and he is important to you, I will do whatever I can to guarantee I can help. You can always count on me."

"I know, bro."

"Thank you, Jake," Timothée finally says, the tears coming back to his eyes. He sighs as Armie walks to him and embraces him, his strong arms the only thing that remotely makes him feel safe.

"You should try to get some sleep," Armie whispers.

"I've tried."

"C'mon, I'll lie down with you," he smiles softly and Timothée nods, wrapping an arm around his waist. "Good night, guys."

"Good night."

Timothée just gives them a quick nod, before leaning his head against Armie's chest and walking back to the bedroom with him. They lie down on the bed, Armie's arm protectively wrapped around his body, while he buries his face in his chest, his hand holding tight onto his shirt.

"Please, tell me everything will be okay."

Armie looks down at Timothée, his heart breaking and a lump on his throat as he hears Timothée's low and broken voice.

"Please, tell me even with all this bullshit, we'll be okay."

"Hey, look at me," he says while lifting up his chin, a small smile on his face. "We are gonna be alright. In sixteen years, we'll look back at this and it will only be a memory of difficult times, but you'll be happy, healthy and successful. And I will be right there by your side."

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****

Timothée stands in front of the fogged mirror, his reflection distorted, which in some ironic way resembles now he is feeling. It's been less than sixteen hours since everything happened, since his world turned upside down once again, this time leaving him completely confused and disappointed, but even more than that, it left him wondering who the hell he really was.

The grandparents he heard stories of, suddenly weren't his grandparents anymore; the man he spent years trying to please, wasn't his father; his mother, the one person he had always trusted and loved, lied to him for years and was planning to do it for the rest of her life apparently. He simply couldn't wrap his head around everything that was happening around him, specially since he had allowed his hopes up with Julia's call. For a few minutes, Timothée thought he had finally reached a point where his life would start to change, where he would be able to rest and have peace of mind. But as it usually happens, life had other plans for him. 

He pushes some of his hair back, lets out a sigh and fixes his shirt before stepping out of the bathroom. He stops abruptly when he sees his friends all sitting on the living room floor along with Armie and Lois, small smiles on their faces as they look up at him. He remains in place, his confused eyes wandering through each one of the familiar faces in the room as Armie stands up and walks over to him.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to have breakfast with you," Mark says enthusiastically as he stuffs a bagel in his mouth.

"You came to have breakfast with us?"

"Why you sound so incredulous?" Zac says with a chuckle. "Is that so strange?"

"It is when we never did this before."

"Well, maybe it can be a new tradition."

Timothée frowns, turning to the side as he feels Armie's hand slide to his waist. "Is this some kind of intervention?"

Armie cocks an eyebrow. "Are you in need of an intervention?"

"No, but I...," he sighs and shakes his head. "Look, I know I've reached a very low point in my life right now, but you guys don't have to worry about anything, okay? I'm not gonna do anything stupid, I promise."

"Tim, we know that, but we are your friends and we want to be here for you in this difficult moment." Jake says with a smile. "You might not know this, but I'm adopted and I only found out about it after I turned twelve. It was a difficult moment in my life, even if I knew I should be lucky to have parents who chose me to be in their lives, still there was a moment of anger and feeling a bit confused on who I really was. So trust me, I know what you're feeling and if there's one thing I know can help you get through this, is having your friends around."

Timothée smiles softly, a couple of tears already threatening to fall down his cheeks as he feels Armie squeeze his waist. He turns to look at him, who has a beaming smile on his face and sighs; he doesn't know what he would do without him in his life.

"This is all your doing, isn't it?"

"Nope. It was Lois' idea, actually."

Lois shrugs as Timothée turns his attention to her.

"You're part of my family now, Tim, and I will do whatever I can to make sure you are happy and have all the support you need."

Timothée sighs, shaking his head as he allows his tears to fall. Even though life is constantly putting him through trying times, he often finds himself surrounded by love and support. He doesn't know what he did to deserve such people in his life, but he's extremely thankful for each one of them.

"Oh fuck," he mumbles. "I wish I could tell you guys how thankful I am for what you're doing, but I can't find the right words to do so. I spent years lying to people around me, hiding things that I shouldn't hide because I didn't want to be seen as a charity work, but you guys made me realize it's okay to ask and accept help. I really, really do love you guys, so thank you for doing this."

"We love you too," Armie says while pulling him into a hug, his hand stroking Timothée's hair.

"Thank you, if it wasn't for you coming into my life, I probably wouldn't have made it through."

"You would," Armie whispers. "You're stronger than you think."

"That's cute, but you two lovebirds better come and join us or we're gonna eat everything."

Timothée chuckles, resting his head on Armie's shoulder as they walk over to the center of the living room, joining their friends.

"I thought being the reason why you're all here, I'd have some special treatment."

"This is food, Timmy, and we don't play with food."

"Nice to know where your priorities lie, Mark."

Mark winks at him and Timothée chuckles, wrapping his arm around Armie's. Things are definitely not good, but he knows it will get better soon. He has friends, support and love; he can make it through everything.

****

***************

****

The sun is just starting to set when Timothée stops, lets out a heavy sigh and takes a seat on the sidewalk, his toes curling up on the sand as he watches the waves crash on the shore. He´s been walking for nearly two hours, trying his best to clear his head and push back the anger that keeps on trying to consume him. While being inside the house with Armie, Lois and their friends was good, at times Timothée felt a bit overwhelmed and overprotected. He was thankful for them, he really was, but he needed a few hours to himself.

He leans forward, leaning his chin on his knee and reaches for the sand, watching it slip through his fingers. He gets up, takes off his shirt and shorts, folds them nicely and puts them under the tree before rushing to the ocean, diving in head first. The cold water feels good against his skin, washing away the negativity that tries to get the best of him. People always say the ocean can heal, and while Timothée isn´t sure it´s that powerful, it sure can help.

He plays around the water, dives in and floats for a couple of minutes, then finally makes his way out, pushing some of his hair back. He walks back to the spot where he previously was, sits down and sighs, a little smile creeping on the corner of his lips. He hears voices and looks over his shoulder, watching as Maxence and a couple of guys talk just a few feet away from him. He watches as they say goodbye and then Maxence looks around, his eyes finding him.

"If it isn´t the guy who calls me friend, but not even once visited me at work."

"I´m sorry, things have been a bit chaotic."

"It seems like your life is always a bit chaotic," Maxence says as he sits down next to Timothée. "Is everything okay between you and Armie?"

"Surprisingly enough, my relationship with Armie is the only constant thing in my life. Even when we argue, it´s still better than everything else going on around me."

"What happened? Because, I don´t want to be rude, but you seem quite bad."

"I found out my mom has been lying to me for almost eighteen years."

"What?"

"My father is not really my father."

"What the fuck? That´s..."

"Fucked up? Yeah, it is." He shakes his head, leaning back against the tree. "She kept it from me all this time and I only found out because I heard them arguing. I went through so much shit because of him, I put up with his behavior for her and she lied to me."

"What she did was wrong, but I´m sure she had her reasons, Tim."

"Her reasons don´t change the fact I had the right to know who my real father was, Max. She took that away from me, now I don´t even know who I really am."

"Timothée, you´re still the same guy. Maybe your family isn´t exactly who you thought it was, but that doesn´t change who you are. DNA can be important, but the things we go through in our day to day life are what shapes us into who we really are."

"It´s easy to say, Max, but when you look around and realize the one person you always trusted lied to you, it suddenly becomes a lot harder to be positive about life. And trust me, my positivity isn´t that great either."

"Hey, the situation sucks, you´re right about that, but you can´t just focus on the bad. I´m not saying you should just forget about this, you have all the right to be mad and disappointed, but think of the bright side of things too."

"Is there a bright side for this shitshow?"

"If your mom had not lied, maybe you would have grown up somewhere else, you would never be friends with Zac, you wouldn´t have the idea to rebuild the skatepark and therefore, you would never meet Armie."

Timothée frowns, shooting Maxence a look as he shrugs, which causes to chuckle. "Thank you for trying to ease my pain. I do have to admit, having the friends I do makes things a lot easier to deal with."

"Family is full of shit, Tim, the sooner we accept that, the easier it gets."

"My family just seems to have a lot more shit than others," he sighs, shaking his head. "I mean, you saw my father that day at the supermarket, imagine growing up with that."

Maxence sighs, nodding his head. "My uncle was an alcoholic, he also was very violent with my aunt, so yeah, I get you."

Timothée looks at him, an eyebrow arched as Maxence shrugs.

"I saw the anger in his eyes, the way he jumped at you and how you freaked out. It wasn´t that hard to figure out it wasn´t just because he was making scene, but because you had been through that for way too long."

"Why you didn´t say anything?"

"It was pretty clear you didn´t want to talk about it, so I didn´t want to push it." Timothée nods, running his fingers through his hair. "Does Armie know?"

"Of course, it´s one of the reasons why I didn´t tell him he was the reason why I got fired. He hates the man, and sometimes I want to protect him, make sure he won´t do anything stupid."

"As much as he loves you and wants to protect you, I doubt he would do anything extreme. Armie is an intelligent guy, he wouldn´t do something that could push you away from him."

"I know that, but I can´t help myself."

Maxence pats his back, a comforting smile on his lips. "I have to go now, have a family dinner to attend, but I hope you feel better soon."

"I will, don´t worry."

As Maxence gets up, Timothée follows him with his eyes, getting up too when he notices Armie is standing not that far from them. They look at each other for a brief second, then Timothée averts his eyes to Maxence, who simply waves at Armie before heading down the street. 

Timothée sighs, grabs his clothes and quickly puts them on, before heading towards Armie, who remains exactly where he was. He tries to smile at him, a little worried that he will put on a scene again, but sighs in relief when Armie simply wraps his arms around him, hugging him tight.

"I woke up and you were not there, I have to admit, I freaked out for a second."

"I just needed to clear my head," he whispers while holding onto Armie´s shirt. "I enjoy the support, but I was desperate for some silence."

"I can understand that, when everything happened with my mom and Viktor, all I needed was to be alone. Of course I did it the wrong way, but still, I get it."

"I walked for hours, just trying to assimilate everything that is going on, then sat down here and Maxence happened to be around."

"You don´t have to explain anything."

"Don´t I?"

"I told you I wouldn´t let my jealousy get the best of me, Tim, and I mean it. I love you, I trust you, and Maxence seems like a good friend to you, so that´s all that matters. All I want is your happiness."

"Thank you."

Armie nods, pushing some curls behind his ear. "My mom called, seems like Mrs. Richardson contacted your mom and they will try to meet up tomorrow. It would be nice if you joined them, make sure you tell everything from your point of view and..."

"No, I´m not going."

"Tim, this is important."

"She can talk to me at the house, I´m not ready to see my mom right now. I need some time away from her, Armie."

Armie nods, his thumb stroking his cheek. "Okay, I´ll make sure knows she can stop by the house."

"Thank you."

"There´s no need to thank me, Tim."

Timothée sighs, taking a step back and rubbing his face. "Can we go to the diner? I´m starving."

"Of course we can," he says with a smile, wrapping his arm around his shoulder.

******  
  
**

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****

**_//now_playing//_** _Here Without You - 3 Doors Down_

****

Timothée sits down on the bed, his back leaned against the bedpost, his eyes distant and his ears taking in the sweet melody of the song. The past three days have been like a rollercoaster to him, he's gone from super happy and excited, to furious, to miserable and now he finds himself in a limbo, a place where not even he knows exactly what he feels.

Being out for a part of the day did help, the salty ocean water did have some kind of effect on him, but there was still so many thoughts clouding his mind, so many questions he needed answers to and yet, he wasn't ready to face his mother and hear all those answers. He wasn't even sure she had the answers to such questions.

Being lied to by her was what hurt the most. As confusing as it was to find out Matthew wasn't his father, Timothée could deal with that; but finding out that his mother, the one person he had always trusted had lied to him, that's what truly killed him. He couldn't care less about who his real father was, but he wished she wouldn't have done the things she did, he wished she could have been truthful to him like he always thought she was. 

Timothée sighs, trying to once again push back the negative thoughts and focus on something that could bring him some peace of mind. As he looks down, he can't help but smile at Armie, who has his head on his lap while drawing something on his sketchbook. His naked back is on display and Timothée suddenly finds himself tracing his tattoo with his finger, his mind taking him back to the first time he saw it.

"You have some sort of obsession with my tattoo, don't you?"

"Maybe," he whispers. "Is that weird?"

"No, not really."

"I just find it so beautiful and so true to who you are," he explains and leans down to place a kiss right on top of it. "Will you sketch one for me?"

"You want me to draw you a tattoo?"

While Armie sits down, Timothée nods eagerly, his smile growing. 

"I've always wanted one, but I never really knew what to get and whenever I try to search for it, all I get are some rubbish designs. I want something that describes me, but it's also artistic and beautiful. I think if anyone can manage to do that, is you."

"Well, I'll just draw a skate." He laughs as Timothée rolls his eyes, slapping his arm. "You have any ideas of what you'd like?"

"No, that's why I want you to make it."

"That's not fair."

Timothée smirks, leaning closer to him and sliding his hand down his neck. "You know me better than anyone, I'm sure you'll figure something out."

"I might have some ideas already," he says with a smirk as Timothée arches an eyebrow. "I'm not telling you anything, though."

"I can deal with that surprise."

"Well, isn't that an improvement."

Timothée sticks his tongue out and rolls his eyes, a small laugh echoing as Armie wraps his arms around his waist and pulls him down to the bed, hovering on top of him, his nose nuzzling against his neck. He wraps his legs around his hips, his hands holding onto his biceps while a low moan escapes him. He smiles when Armie looks down at him, his thumb gently tracing his cheeks.

"I'm glad to see you smiling again, you know? I understand how bad this whole thing might be for you, but I'm glad you're trying your best to keep on going."

"I've been through hell and back, Armie, but I don't want to let this get the best of me."

"I know it's gonna take you a while, but I need you to know that I'm here for everything you need."

"I know that, Armie. And I couldn't be more thankful to have you in my life, because I don't think I would have made it through all of this without you."

"Well, I don't plan on ever leaving your side, so need to worry about that."

Timothée smiles, bringing Armie down for a hug, his arms tightly wrapped around his body. He closed his eyes, buries his face in the crook of his neck and takes in a deep breath, his scent soothing and his touch the one thing that can actually bring Timothée to a place of comfort and peace. 


	44. Chapter 44

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time will heal you.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 44**

  
  
  


**//now_playing//** _Dream On - Aerosmith_

  
  


Despite the heat, the sky is grey and cloudy, the mid August weather a lot more intense than expected by anyone. Sitting on a folding chair, his right leg lazily resting on top of his left, Timothée has a small Canon camera on his hand, snapping a couple of pictures while he watches Armie work on the large wall. The project started almost two weeks ago, but due to work and everything that has been going on in their lives, he couldn't make it every single day, as he previously planned, which delayed things a little.

But even if the work was slightly delayed, what Armie had going on was already breathtaking. The colors were intense, the drawing was captivating and he did it all with so much love and care, paying attention to every little detail that made it always too pleasant to watch. The smile on his face whenever he would step back to look at the thing as a whole, it was something Timothée would never get tired of seeing, because it truly was the moment he could easily see Armie be himself completely. Art was his main love and it made him so happy, that Timothée was glad to take second place.

He puts the camera down, reaches for the cooler on the ground and takes a Coke out of it, drinking almost half of it in one go. He winks at Armie as he gets down the ladder, turning to look at him with a sheepish smile. They wiggle their eyebrows at one another, a little silent banter that ends in laughter as Armie walks over to Timothée and nearly throws himself down on a folding chair beside him.

"This mural is gonna fucking kill me," Armie whines while reaching for the Coke.

"You're halfway through already, Armie, don't be so damn dramatic."

"I'm not being dramatic, I'm just being honest. This is fucking huge and maybe I should have hired the guys to help me with it."

"And why didn't you?"

"Because I wanted to save as much money as possible."

Timothée arches an eyebrow, turning to look at Armie. "And why is that?"

"I told you I want to get a place of my own, saving money is the first step for that."

"I like how keen you are on this whole life plan you got going on."

Armie chuckles, shaking his head as he hands the can of Coke back to Timothée.

"I'm not sure we should call it a life plan, Tim."

"Of course we can," Timothée protests. "You have goals you want to reach and you're trying your best to achieve them, it seems to me you have a life plan you want to follow."

"Okay, maybe...."

"You do, just admit it."

Armie chuckles, but quickly afterwards lets out a sigh, stretching out his arms and legs while he eyes up the wall in front of them. It's a monster of a project, but he's actually quite proud with what he got going on.

"Have you talked to your mom?"

Timothée's arm is halfway up when Armie asks this and he stops immediately, clenching his jaw. His eyes wander to Armie, who eyes him carefully, his blue eyes caring.

"No, I haven't," Timothée answers despite his will to just remain quiet.

"It's been almost a week, don't you think it's time you two sit down and actually talk about this?"

"She lied for almost eighteen years, Armie, I'm pretty sure she can handle a few more days."

"C'mon, don't be like this," Armie says while reaching for him, his hand resting on Timothée's shoulder. "She's your mother and you love her, I'm sure you're also dying to see her."

"You managed to stay months, almost years without seeing your parents, I think I'll do just fine."

There's a moment of total silence that follows Timothée's words and he instantly regrets them. He sighs, burying his face in his hands as he shakes his head, muttering  _ fuck _ repeatedly.

"I'm sorry," he finally says while turning to look at Armie. "That was completely unnecessary, I can't dump all this anger I have for her on you. You've done nothing but support me, you are the sweetest person I've ever met and I have no right being a complete asshole to you. Sorry, I'm really sorry."

"It's okay, Tim."

"No, it's not okay. I shouldn't treat you this way."

"You shouldn't treat her this way either," Armie shrugs. "And you're right, I distanced myself from my family after I left home, which only made things worse. If I had been more present, maybe things would be easier with my dad and Viktor, so take my advice and don't let the anger consume you."

"It's easier said than done, though."

"I know, but I also know you're a loving guy, who can rise above this and sit down with her for a talk."

Timothée sighs, his hands gripping onto the chair's arms. He keeps himself silent for a minute, then nods his head, looking back at Armie.

"I promise you I will talk to her, but I need more time. I don't think I'm ready to face her just yet, and the last thing I want is to get in an argument."

"Okay, take your time."

Timothée smiles, reaching out to squeeze Armie's knee. "You know what I just remembered?"

"Is this how you're gonna change the subject?" He asks with an eyebrow arched as Timothée chuckles. "But go on, what did you just remember?"

"Your birthday is in two weeks."

"So?"

"So?" He mocks. "You're turning twenty one, Armie, we need to do something."

"We're going to Blink 182's concert, did you forget about that?"

"Of course not, but I mean like an actual party, with all of our friends."

"You're not even into parties, Tim."

"But this is not just some random party, this is to celebre you."

"I don't need to be celebrated."

"I beg to differ."

Armie rolls his eyes and leans in, placing a quick and sweet kiss on his lips. "I'm not throwing a party, Tim, I'll just go to the concert with you and then later we can have some burgers and beer. That will be perfect for me."

"But..."

"No party, mister."

Timothée rolls his eyes, nodding his head as Armie chuckles and kisses him once again. He sighs, crossing his arms as he watches him get back up on the ladder, a can of ink in his hand as he goes back to work. He bites on his lip, trying to control a smile as he has an idea.

Armie said he wouldn't throw a party, which doesn't mean Timothée can't.

  
  
  


***************

  
  


The park is surprisingly quiet, just a couple of kids playing in the playground on the other side, some cyclists passing by and the occasional jogger. Sitting under a tree, Timothée has his back leaned against the log, his eyes distant while his feet play with his skateboard. Sitting beside him, Zac has a joint in between his lips while he carefully fixes his afro, his black eyes wandering around the area.

They´ve been sitting there together for almost half an hour, listening to music, chatting or just enjoying the comfortable silence that sometimes overtakes them. Timothée couldn´t be happier to be there with his best friend, enjoying every single second they have before Zac leaves, and while doing so, taking off the anger and frustration that had consumed him after the last incident.

He looks to the side as Zac nudges him, arches an eyebrow and reaches for the joint, taking a long drag of it, before blowing out the smoke. He closes his eyes for a brief second, leaning his head back and allowing his body to relax completely; it´s a constant struggle to remain in peace, but Timothée is trying his best.

"How you´re doing the past couple of days? I know we´ve talked about a lot today, but I was trying to keep this topic away from us, in case you..."

"I´m alright, Zac," Timothée cuts him off. "Or as fine as I could possibly be in this situation, I guess."

"It must be really frustrating to find yourself in the middle of all of this, right?" He asks as Timothée nods. "I mean, as much as you try to stay cool, you can´t help but look around yourself and wonder what else could be a lie."

"I think that´s exactly what I am feeling. Maxence told me not to be too angry at her, because even if what she did was wrong, she must have had her reasons. Armie is trying to get me to talk to her every chance he´s got, but right now I think distancing myself from her is what´s best. I need to get my thoughts back in order before listening to what she´s got to say."

"But you will listen to her, right? Because I agree with Maxence in this one, Tim. While what she did was wrong, it doesn´t mean she didn´t have her reasons for it."

"I think it was mainly shame, but alright."

"Shame?"

"Yeah, she was ashamed for what she did, and after I grew up and had to put up with everything Matthew did, she was even more ashamed to tell me the truth."

"That could be it, but you´ll never know if you don´t actually sit down with her and talk."

"I will do that, but right now I want to focus on feeling better, enjoying my life with Armie and helping the lawyer with whatever she needs to guarantee Matthew will stay away from us for good. That´s my main priority right now."

Zac nods, remaining in silence for a brief moment before he turns around, so he can look at Timothée better.

"Are you curious to know who´s your real father?"

"Honestly?" He asks as Zac nods once again. "Not at all."

"Why? I think that would be the main thing someone would think in a situation like this one."

"I´m not saying I didn´t wonder who he is, but I also don´t feel like it will make much of a change in my life, to be honest. Apparently he didn´t really care about me, so I´m not sure what I want to do regarding him. Maybe one day I´ll meet him, maybe I´ll be fatherless for the rest of my life."

"I talked to Jake, wondered what he did once he found out he was adopted and he pretty much said the same thing as you."

Timothée nods. "Yeah, I talked to him too. He was mad at his parents when he found out the truth, but he also knew they chose him and loved him for who he was, he didn´t need to know anything about the people who left him."

"Yeah, but he also told me he understands there are many reasons why someone leaves their children, which might be the case with your father. So far, all you got is Matthew´s version of the story and I doubt he´s a reliable source."

Timothée frowns, but nods his head anyway, Zac´s words suddenly making him question some of his actions. He is right, all he heard was Matthew´s side of the story and while Eleanor admitted he wasn´t indeed his father, there was a lot more to this story and the things he heard, might not all be true.

He shakes his head, looking around the park for a brief moment, before he turns his attention back to Zac, a wide smile appearing on his face, which causes Zac to look at him confused.

"What? Why are you looking at me like this?"

"I had the idea to plan a surprise birthday party for Armie, do you think you can help me with it?"

"Of course. Where is gonna be?"

"I talked to Lois and we think it´s best to do it at the house, we have a concert on the day of his birthday, so it will be the perfect opportunity to take him out of the house for most of the day."

"Oh, this is gonna be fun," he says with a smile. "Tell me whatever you need me to do, we´ll make sure this is a party Armie will never forget."

"Thanks, bro."

  
  
  


****************

  
  


Timothée laughs as he follows Zac inside the diner, his eyes immediately wandering around the place in search for Armie. He smiles when he spots him sitting on one of the booths with Mark and Jake, his laugh echoing around the place and the little wrinkles around his eyes showing up. He looks to the side as Zac nudges him, arching an eyebrow as his friend rolls his eyes and pushes him forward.

"You are so goddamn in love with that boy."

"And you just figured that out?"

"No, but it´s almost annoying how in love you two are."

"Oh, so you´re just jealous."

"Why would I be jealous?"

"Because I have a hot and fun boyfriend, which means I can get laid whenever I want, while you, my friend..."

"Oh, fuck off."

Timothée chuckles, wrapping his arm around Zac´s shoulders as they join their friends, Zac sliding in the empty space near Jake, while Timothée sits down next to Armie, leaning in to kiss him. They both smile as they hear groaning, only to break apart when someone throws a french fry at them.

"Didn´t we have a very serious conversation about making out in front of us?"

"You´re just jealous, Jake."

"And why would I be jealous?"

Armie and Timothée look at each other, before turning back to their friends, shrugging their shoulders.

"Well, we´re the only ones in a relationship here, so you´re all just jealous you don´t have what we have."

"I´m in a relationship," Jake protests, causing all eyes to turn at him. "I mean, I think I am. Honestly, I have no fucking clue of what this whole thing with Lois means."

"I don´t think she does either," Armie says while stealing a french fry.

"Maybe you two should sit down and talk about it," Timothée suggests, his arm wrapping around Armie´s while he leans his head against his shoulder. "You guys have history and if you have fun together, maybe it could be worth it to at least try again?"

"I´m all in for that, Timothée, but I´m not sure Lois is."

Armie sighs. "I´ve tried to talk to her about this a while back, but I don´t think she´s very comfortable talking about this with me, even though we can talk about almost everything. Maybe you should just sit down with her and tell her the truth, you want to try again and you´ll do everything you can to make things better this time."

"Can I ask something?" Mark says while raising his hand, a little smile on his face. "How come every time we sit down now, we always end up talking about relationships, jobs or very adult things?"

"Because we´re growing up, cousin?"

"Yeah, I get that, but couldn´t we also find time for the silly things? I´m sure we all have our issues, so when we´re together, sometimes it might be good to just chill a bit?"

"That´s actually a good idea, because I already have too much shit going on in my life and there are days I just want to be a normal seventeen year old."

"Okay then," Armie says while leaning on the table, his eyes on Mark. "What are we gonna talk about?"

"I bought a stack of Playboy magazines for ten bucks and it was the best investment I´ve done in years."

They all groan, shaking their heads as Mark laughs, coiling up as Armie throws a couple of fries at him. He opens his mouth, taking one in mid air and smirks as they look at him impressed.

"Okay, Mark is not gonna choose the topic of conversation."

"You´re just mean," he whines while crossing his arm. "Oh, actually we could talk about someone´s upcoming birthday."

"YES!" Jake shouts, grinning at Armie. "The big twnety-one, we gotta do something huge, dude."

"We´re not doing anything, actually. Timmy and I are going to a concert and that´s gonna be it."

"Boring as fuck."

"Maybe I´m becoming a boring old man."

"You´re not boring," Timothée says with a smile, pulling him in for a kiss, his hand sliding to his face.

"Stop it," the three boys shout and groan, rolling their eyes as Armie and Timothée only intensify their kiss.

  
  
  


*****************

  
  


"As I said before," the woman starts, her black hair tied up in a perfect ponytail, her fingers manicured and on her lips a delicate pink lipstick. Her green eyes are kind and whenever she asks a question, it´s easy to see she´s truly focused on the answer she gets. 

But despite the kindness he sees in her, Timothée still feels a bit uneasy to be sitting there, bearing his soul for someone he barely knows. Thankfully, Armie and Lois are sitting there too, giving him all the support he needs in such a moment. He knows this is a very important part of the process and even if it kills him, even if it brings back bad memories, he will do and say whatever he thinks it´s necessary.

"I talked to your mother and she explained to me everything that happened in the past few years, but it´s extremely important that we hear everything from your perspective as well."

Timothée nods slowly, his fingers tapping on the counter top and his legs bobbing up and down. He looks down as Armie places a hand on his thigh, a little smile appearing on the corner of his lips as he turns his eyes to him. He doesn´t say a word, but Timothée knows exactly what he means, his eyes says it all. Everything is alright, you´ll be okay. 

"Tell me, Timothée, have you and your mother ever tried to escape?"

"Yes, we did," he says almost in a whisper while nodding his head. "It was about four years ago, after he hit me for the first time."

"How did it happen?"

"He hit me on a late afternoon, after I tried to help my mother from one of his beatings. He punched me and pushed me against the wall, but stopped once my mother nearly threw herself at his feet, begging for him to stop."

Timothée sighs, resting his hand on top of Armie, desperately seeking for some sort of comfort.

"The next morning, I was getting ready for school when my mom barged into my room, grabbed a couple of clothes and stuffed them inside my backpack. She grabbed my hand, told me we were leaving and then we ran off to the nearest bus station. Things looked good for us, despite the fact I was terrified, even if I didn´t fully understand why. The thing is, we barely had any money and the one passage we could buy was for a small little place, which meant waiting at least four hours for the bus."

He stops for a minute, trying to gather his thoughts and remain focused on the story, otherwise he might end up crying his heart out.

"It didn´t take long for him to show up there, tears in his eyes as he begged my mom to change her mind. He told her he would never do something like that again, that he loved her more than anything and he would never hurt any of us. He said that going home and not finding her had cleared his mind, made him see the atrocity he had done."

"And your mother believed him?"

"I guess so, or she was so terrified of seeing him there, that she didn´t think straight."

"But she did go back with him, right?"

Timothée nods, his eyes wandering to Armie once again while he intertwined their fingers together.

"She took his hand and followed him out of the bus station, he was kind and loving towards her, but that only lasted until we got to the small parking lot. There was no one there, so he grabbed her by the neck, slammed her against a car and screamed at her face. He looked like a possessed man, veins popping out, eyes turning almost red, it was the scariest thing I´ve ever seen in my life."

"What happened after that?"

"He took us back home. I remember he kept a tight grip on her arm throughout the whole thing, he would also whisper things in her ear and I could see her flinching." Timothée sighs, running his fingers through his hair as he tries to fight back the tears. "The first thing he did once we got back home, was lock me inside my bedroom, no matter how much I screamed, banged on the door, he didn´t open. Then I heard the screams, his loud voice echoing through the house, things breaking. It was a nightmare, so I just crawled to a corner of the bedroom and just sat there, hugging myself and trying to keep myself together."

"Did anything else happen after that?"

"I end up falling asleep, but once I woke up the door was unlocked and he was nowhere to be seen. I walked to my mom´s bedroom and she was lying on the bed, her face nearly unrecognizable. I sat there with her, told her I would ask for help, but she stopped me from doing that and back then I didn´t understand why, but years later I finally remembered something from that day, which gave some sense to her decision."

"And what was that?"

"That was the first time he threatened to kill me if she ever dared to leave or tell anyone what he did."

"The first time?"

Timothée nods. "He made sure she always remembered that threat and I have no doubt that he could actually do it. You don´t know how evil that man is, Mrs. Richardson."

"I´m sorry you have to go through all these memories again, Timothée, but I need to know everything if we plan on winning this case."

"Do you think we can?"

"Of course. You let me do my job and soon enough that man won´t be allowed anywhere near you."

Timothée nods, wiping away a couple of tears that roll down his cheek. He feels Armie squeeze his hand and turns to him with a small smile, trying to make sure he knows he is alright. Or as fine as he can possibly be in a moment like this.

"Mrs. Richardson," Armie says catching her attention. "How long do you think this case can take?"

"That´s complicated, Armie. These processes sometimes might take a lot longer than we would like it, but we have enough evidence of Matthew's abuse to at least guarantee a restriction order on him."

"You can count on me for whatever you need, Mrs. Richardson," says Lois. "I helped Armie take care of Timmy one of the times Matthew beat him."

"Your help will be very important for this case," she says with a smile while turning from Lois to Armie. "You've been a victim of him too, right? Eleanor told me about it."

"Yeah, kind of." Armie sighs, scratching his chin as he remembers that day. "It was the day he found out about Tim and I, he tried to choke me."

"And how did you manage go get out of his grip?"

"Timothée tried to stop him, so he turned to push him away and when he did so, I punched him."

Martha nods, her eyes wandering back to Timothée, who sits quietly on the stool, his fingers back to tapping the counter top.

"Timothée, I know you're desperate to get out of this, and I promise you I will do my best to make sure you and your mother are safe."

"Thank you."

"I should go now, but I'll keep in touch and let you know if anything happens. Okay?"

"Okay," he nearly whispers before hopping off of the stool, shaking hands with her briefly. He watches as Lois leads her to the door and turns to Armie, sighing as he wraps his arms around him, his head resting on his chest. 

"It's okay," Armie whispers. "Everything's gonna be okay." 

  
  


***************

  
  


The bedroom is quiet and dark when Armie walks in, the only light coming from the tiny screen of Timothée´s phone, where he types something. He throws his clothes on the computer chair, dries off some remains of water from his head and then leans against the desk, staring at Timothée.

He has been aware since day one that Timothée was an incredibly strong guy, even if he himself didn´t believe so. But every single time Armie comes across one of the many horrors Matthew put him through, he feels even prouder of him. At seventeen, Timothée has gone through things many will never go through in their lifetime, and even if he has thought of giving up once or twice, he didn´t do it. He kept fighting, hoping and waiting for better days.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

Armie snaps out of his thoughts and shrugs his shoulders. He walks to the bed, nearly throws himself beside Timothée and wraps an arm around his waist, while his other hand gently strokes his hair.

"Why you never told me that story before?"

Timothée sighs, but looks up at Armie with a small smile. "Armie, you´re like this token of happiness and joy to me. Every second with you makes me feel better with myself, makes me calm and in peace. I probably have thousands of stories about the horrors Matthew has put me through, and if you want, I can share all of them with you. But in all honesty, I would much rather just be with you without all these heavy weight on our shoulders."

Armie pushes some of his curls back and nods his head slowly, a warm smile forming on his lips. "You´re right. While I appreciate that you feel comfortable talking to me, I can also understand why you would much rather not."

"And I promise you, this is not me internalizing my issues, because I´m trying my best not to do that too often. This is me, trying my best to make my moments with you all about us and no one else."

Armie cradles his face, pulling him in for a sweet kiss. His thumb strokes his cheek and a small smile forms on his lips when Timothée´s arms wrap around his neck, keeping him close to him.

"I love you and I admire you more than you´ll ever know."

"I love you too and I can´t thank you enough for everything you´ve done for me. If I´m truly hopeful right now, it has a lot to do with you."

Armie winks, wrapping his arms tightly around his body and keeping him close to him. He kisses his head, his fingers stroking his back as Timothée takes a tight grip of his shirt, while nuzzling his nose against his neck.


	45. Chapter 45

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One hell of a birthday.

**Venice Ink**

**Part 45**

 

 

Timothée kicks the fridge door closed, a lazy smile on his lips as he walks back to the counter and places the jar down on the tray. He looks down at it proudly, an indescribable amount of love filling his entire body as he reaches for the tray, takes a deep breath and heads down the hallway. The whole situation takes him back to when he was little and used to prepare breakfast for his mother, bring it to her in bed and snuggle with her under the blankets while they watched Sunday morning television.

Of course those moments were long gone with her, but that didn't mean he should just give up on these little moments, specially when he could now share them with Armie. Gently, he opens the bedroom door, walking inside slowly and trying his best not to make any noise. He sets the tray down on the bedside table, sits down on the edge of the bed and reaches out for Armie, his thumb caressing his face until he lets out a little sigh, his body moving slightly on the bed.

Timothée chuckles, watches as Armie mumbles something under his breath and then finally opens his eyes. He stares up at him, sleepy eyes and a small smile on the corner of his lips, which to Timothée might be one of the most beautiful things he has ever seen in life. He leans down, hand cupping Armie's cheek while he places a sweet kiss on his lips, letting it linger for a moment when Armie rests his hand on the back of his neck. 

"Happy birthday," Timothée whispers, his thumb now tracing Armie's lips.

"Thank you, Tim."

"I know life has an incredible future lined up for you, but I want to wish you all the happiness in the world. No one deserves it more than you do."

"I can think of someone," Armie whispers before kissing his forehead.

"Don't do this," Timothée protests. "Today is your birthday and it should be about you."

"The best part of me is you, so...," he trails off as Timothée shoots him a look, which makes him chuckle and nod. "Okay, I'll stop."

"Thank you."

Timothée winks and places yet another short kiss on Armie's lips, before he can reach out for the bedside table and take the tray back in his hands, placing it down on the bed. Armie stares down at it for a second, only to look back at Timothée seconds later, a proud look on his face. Timothée shrugs, a smug smile taking over his lips.

"Thought you'd enjoy a little breakfast in bed for your big day."

"Are you always that into birthdays? Or is it just because it's mine?"

"I like celebrating the people I care about and birthdays are the perfect day to do so."

"Why do I have a feeling you're hiding something from me?"

"You mean the car I brought you as a gift?" He mocks as Armie rolls his eyes, making him laugh. He shakes his head, leans closer to Armie and pinches his cheek, his smug smile never going away. "Just relax, I'm not hiding anything from you. I do have plans for the day, though."

"Oh, really? And am I allowed to know more about this?" Armie asks while reaching for a toast, which he takes a bite of it. "Or is that a secret?"

"We're gonna finish breakfast, head to Los Angeles and spend the day there, maybe visit some of the places we couldn't do it last time. Then we'll go to the concert, and afterwards I thought we could go somewhere nice to have dinner. Does that sound good?"

"That sounds like the perfect birthday to me."

"Great," he smiles wide, reaching for a cookie, which he stuffs his mouth with, making Armie laugh and little wrinkles appear on the corner of his eyes. Timothée sighs in contentment, happiness flooding him as he leans in to kiss Armie again, his hand resting on his bare chest as Armie knots his fingers on his curls. 

  
  
  


***************

  
  
  


The club is dark, but the lights coming from the stage dance around the whole room, creating different shapes and patterns on the beaming audience, who jumps and shouts every single word of the lyrics. The music is loud and the drums make it seem like the ground is shaking, while everyone´s heart pounds inside their chests. There´s an incredible energy that emanates from a live concert, which causes each person to react in a different way, emotions all over the place.

Squeezed in the middle of the crowd, Timothée watches in awe as the three men move around the stage, playing their instruments and singing hit after hit. It´s his first ever concert and he couldn´t be happier to be there, specially with Armie right by his side. His eyes move from the stage from time to time, admiring Armie and the happiness that oozes from him. He smiles through each line he sings, his blue eyes completely focused on the stage, his hands gesturing non stop and his feet stomping on the floor. 

As far as birthdays go, it seems like he truly is having a great one and Timothée couldn´t be happier.

A long guitar solo comes along, the crowd cheers as loud as they can, only to applaud once it´s over. Timothée looks around the room, seeing all the blissful faces and listening as all the voices come together as one. He´s already addicted to this energy and from now on, he will make sure to go to as many concerts as he can manage. He screams along with the crowd as the song comes to an end, the lights getting colorful before the band says their goodbyes and exit the stage.

He lets out a sigh, pushing some of his hair back and turns to look at Armie, who smiles wide. He tries to say something, but the noise from the crowd is still too loud, so Timothée gestures towards the exit and takes Armie´s hand in his, leading him out of the club. It´s only nine, the streets are crowded and there´s a cool breeze blowing, which is perfect after the heat they had to endure while inside the club.

"That was one of the best concerts of my entire life," Armie says while turning around, walking backwards so he can face Timothée. "They are so amazing."

"That was my first concert, but I guess it was a nice way to start."

"It was the perfect way to start, Timmy, I doubt you´ll find any other concert as good as this one anytime soon."

Timothée smiles, grabbing onto Armie´s hand and pulling him closer. "You´re really happy aren´t you?"

"This is probably the best birthday of my life, Tim. Spending the day with you, this concert and the fact I feel good with myself, that I´m finally understanding who I really am, it´s all aligning to make this day incredible."

"I´m so glad to hear this," he says with a smile while cradling Armie´s face. "You deserve all this happiness, Armie."

"Thank you for being part of it."

As Timothée smiles, nodding his head slowly, Armie wraps his arms tightly around his waist and brings him closer, their lips connecting only seconds later. The kiss starts slow, almost tamed, but it swiftly increases it´s tempo and they intensify it, tongues battling for control as their hands hold onto each other, keeping their bodies close.

"Fuck, I love you so fucking much," Armie whispers while leaning his forehead against Timothée´s.

"I love you too, Mr. Artist."

"So, where exactly are we going for dinner? You want something fancy or just street food?"

"I don´t know, maybe we could..." he stops as they both look down, Armie´s phone beeping. "Go on, you can check it."

"No, I don´t want to interrupt our night."

"Armie, it can be important."

Armie stares at him for a second, then nods his head and reaches out for his phone, a sigh escaping him as he reads the message on his phone. He looks back at Timothée, who has an eyebrow arched and scratches the back of his neck, shaking his head.

"Paul wants me to stop by at the record store, he says something happened and he needs my help."

"Okay, we can stop there."

"But that´s gonna ruin our night."

"Of course not," Timothée says with a smile. "Armie, we had an incredible day, the concert was a lot more than any of us could have expected. We´ll drive back to Venice, see what Paul wants and then we will head out for dinner."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure."

"Okay, then let´s go. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go have dinner."

Timothée nods and chuckles as Armie leans in to kiss him once again, before wrapping an arm around his shoulder as they walk back to where the car is.

  
  
  


****************

  
  


Timothée´s laugh echoes in the car and Armie can´t help but smile wide. Spending the day with him is always fun, which brings him an undeniable amount of happiness, but spending his birthday with Timothée, seeing him laugh and smile, hearing him sing along to the band, it truly made the whole day perfect.

He was never really a birthday guy, probably because his family always insisted on the huge parties with a bunch of people he never knew, fancy food he could barely eat and the most over the top decorations. For the first time in his life, Armie had a birthday that suited him and he couldn´t be happier.

He parks the car, his eyes wander around the dark beach before he turns to look at Timothée, who has his feet up on the dash and a blissful smile on his face. He stares at him until he turns to look at him, arching an eyebrow as a little grin appears on his face. Armie chuckles, slides his hand down his neck and brings him close to him, kissing him deeply.

As he pulls away breathless, his cheeks flushed and his lips shiny, Armie strokes Timothée´s cheeks, the smile on his face nearly impossible to control. He kisses him repeatedly, making Timothée giggle and then leans back on his seat, a loud sigh escaping him.

"Okay, we should go see what Paul wants. I´m starting to get really hungry."

"Oh, me too."

"C´mon, let´s go."

Armie hops off of the car, locks it and then takes Timothée´s hand in his, walking down the pier. Most of the stores are still open, loads of teenagers and young adults gather around the wood benches or down at the beach. There´s music playing everywhere, and the chatter is loud enough to prevent Armie from hearing the noises that comes from the record store.

Armie reaches for his keys, unlocks the door and walks in with Timothée following him, a confused look on his face as he sees everything is dark. He reaches for the light, turns it on and takes a step back as suddenly over a dozen people appear in front of him, a loud chorus of happy birthday echoing through the room as confetti fills the air.

He looks over his shoulder at Timothée, who stands there biting his lip and chuckles, shaking his head. He hooks an arm around his waist, pulls him closer and places a sweet and short kiss on his lips, while Timothée holds onto his arm.

"You´re responsible for this, aren´t you?"

"Maybe," he shrugs. "Did you hate it?"

"Hate it? Tim, this is perfect."

"Really? I know you said you didn´t want parties, but..."

"I didn´t want anything big and over the top, but our friends together in a place I love, that´s perfect for me. Thank you, for everything."

"Happy birthday, Armie."

 

****************

 

Armie moves around the room filled with people, greeting a couple of old friends from high school while the music blasts through the speakers. Jake and Mark are in a corner talking to Paul; Lois, Zac and Maxence are standing by the sweets table, chatting excitedly while also sneaking a couple of sweets into their mouths. On the other side of the room, his mother and Timothée sit down, a little smile on their faces as they share a more intimate conversation than everyone else.

It´s funny to stand there and watch them interact, specially when not even in his wildest dreams he ever through it would be his mother who would be the most understanding of who he truly is. And to see her embrace Timothée, help him with his problem and actually have the interest to sit down and talk to him, that was more than Armie could have ever wanted and it made him feel happy. He has never felt so loved, so in peace as he does now and he has a feeling this new year in his life might be the best one yet.

He grabs a plastic cup and fills with beer, taking a few sips of it as he walks around the room, bobbing his head to the music. He stops by a table filled with chips and sandwiches, takes one in his hands and takes a bite of it, a sigh of contentment escaping him at the delicious taste that fills his mouth. He leans against the table, scanning all the other treats and smiles, turning to look at his side when Maxence approaches him.

"Happy birthday, man."

"Thanks," Armie says awkwardly.

"I hope you don´t mind me being here, I wasn´t sure if I should come, but Timothée kept saying it would be alright and..."

"Dude, is alright." Armie assures him. "I should actually apologize again to you, because I allowed my jealousy to speak louder than anything else and that just caused me to be a jerk. Maybe I never truly disrespected you, but I know I also haven´t been on my best behavior. I´m sorry."

"It´s okay, I know how weird jealousy can be. Sometimes we do things we are not proud of, but as long as we learn from those mistakes, I think everything is alright."

"I´ve learned my lesson," he admits while nodding his head. They go silent for a moment, Armie´s eyes back to all the food on the table before he turns to Maxence again. "So, Tim told me you are moving?"

"Yeah, I´ve decided to join my boyfriend in Paris."

"That´s a big change."

"Well, I was born in Paris and lived there until I was ten, so I guess it´s not gonna be that difficult to get used to it again."

"Maybe, but leaving behind everything you built here for the last eleven years, that´s not easy."

"No, it´s not. But I miss my boyfriend more than anything and I don´t know if we are gonna make it if we don´t at least give this a try, you know?"

Armie nods, his eyes wandering to Timothée, who´s still absorb in conversation with his mother. "Incredible how some people walk into our lives unexpectedly and they soon become so important we´d do anything for them, right?"

"Yeah, I know exactly what you´re talking about."

Armie shrugs, a little smile on his lips as he turns back to Maxence. "I never thought I´d love someone as much as I love him, you know?"

"I don´t think we ever think we´ll find something like this, that´s why we fall so hard when we do."

"Guess you´re right."

"Hey, man, I don´t wanna hold you here. It´s your party and you should go mingle."

"I guess I´ll go save Timothée from my mom."

"I don´t think he´s in need of saving, to be honest, they seem pretty cool with one another."

Armie nods, a cheeky smile on his face. "That´s what I fear."

He chuckles, pats Maxences´s back and takes his drink, heading over to where his mother and Timothée are sitting. He can hear a chuckle escape Timothée as he approaches, while Julia has a beaming smile. He sits on the arm of the chair, his arms wrapping around Timothée´s shoulder as he places a kiss on his temple.

"Am I allowed to know what you two are talking about?"

"Your mom is telling me how much she is enjoying the party."

Armie arches an eyebrow. "You are?"

"Why so surprised?"

"You´re used to a whole different kind of party, mom, I thought it wouldn´t be exactly your type of thing."

"And that´s why is so bad that I have been living inside this bubble for so many years, I missed things like this part and your friends, who are all very fun and nice." She says with a smile, discretely gesturing towards Maxence. "That one, by the way, should be a model."

Armie looks at Maxence, then back at his mother and finally at Timothée, who´s laughing. He shakes his head, leans forward and places a kiss on his mom´s forehead, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear.

"Thank you for being here, mom."

****  
  
  


***************

****  
  


**//now_playing//** _Kiss Me - Sixpence None The Richer_

Timothée has his arms wrapped around Armie´s neck, a cheeky smile on his lips as he stares up at his boyfriend, who looks down at him with kind eyes and an overall warm expression on his face. He has a tight grip on his hips, keeping his body close as they move along to the beat of the song, a sweet and intimate moment, even if the room is filled with at least over a dozen people.

Armie looks happy, the happiest Timothée might have ever seen him and he won´t lie to himself and say he isn´t proud of himself for contributing to such happiness. Ever since they met, Armie has been someone who brought so much light and love to his life, Timothée will do whatever he can to make sure he gives him the same. 

He leans his head against Armie´s chest, tightening his grip around him and listening to his heart beat. He is warm, he is strong and most importantly, he is everything -and more- that Timothée ever thought he could have in life. This was only the first time they celebrated Armie´s birthday together, but he wishes he could do this for many more years. 

A little sigh escapes Timothée when Armie runs his fingers down his back and he looks up, winking at him before leaning on his tiptoes and kissing his lips softly. They pull away when the music stops and Lois´ voice fills the air, catching everyone´s attention. As Timothée turns to face her, he wraps his arm around Armie´s waist, a large smile on his face as Lois approaches them with the cake in her hands.

"Time to blow out the candles, birthday boy."

Timothée watches as Jake helps Lois light up the candles, the chorus of Happy Birthday following swiftly, while he looks up at Armie, who stands there rather awkwardly, clearly unsure of what to do during the singing. He squeezes his waist, places a kiss on his cheek and then watches in glee as Armie leans forward to blow out the candles, swiping some cream in his finger to taste it.

"Now, you give your speech," Jake mocks as Armie shakes his head.

"No speeches coming from me," he says shaking his head. "I just want to thank everyone who came and decided to spend the night with me. I have some of the best friends in the world and I am really happy to have you all here with me. So, thank you."

As everyone claps and cheers, Timothée chuckles as Armie pulls him close again, kissing him softly on the lips.

"Thank you for this, Tim."

"You deserve even more."

"No, this is all I need. Thank you."

"I love you."

"Okay," Lois shouts, pulling Armie and Timothée with her. "Time to eat the cake, so you two can be all mellow later on."

"You always know when to ruin the mood, don´t you?"

"I´m your older cousin, teasing you is my job."

Armie sticks his tongue out as Lois chuckles, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and bringing him in with her. 

****  
  
  


****************

****  
  
  


The night passes slowly, food, drinks and music running free as people dance around the record store. Armie has to admit he wasn´t really into the idea of a birthday party, but as he leans against the wall, taking a couple sips of his drink and watches his friends having fun, he realizes just how happy this has made him. 

He spots Timothée sitting quietly on the large leather couch, his fingers playing with the cup on his hand as he stares into space. He arches an eyebrow, places his cup down and walks over to Timothée,  takes a sit next to him and wraps his arm around his shoulder, placing a quick kiss on his temple.

"Is everything okay? Why you turned so quiet all of a sudden?"

"Everything´s okay, Armie, you don´t have to worry about me."

"I wouldn´t if I couldn´t tell you are lying to me," he says with a smirk as Timothée sighs and shakes his head. "C´mon, just tell me what is going on."

"It´s your birthday, I don´t want to bring the mood down."

"Timothée, please, talk to me."

"It´s my mom," he admits, shrugging his shoulders.

"You miss her, don´t you?"

"It´s weird because I´m so angry at her, so disappointed and yet, after seeing you and your mom, she´s all I can think about right now."

"Timothée, is okay to feel this way. You´re sad and disappointed, but you´re still her son and you love her. After everything you two have been through, you won´t simply turn your back on her."

"I never planned on turning my back on her, but I also didn´t think she would ever lie to me that way."

"Why don´t you text her?"

"I already did, but she won´t answer me."

"She´s not really a fast replier, is she?" Armie teases as Timothée chuckles, shaking his head. "But if you really want to talk to her, I can drive you there."

"What? No, this is your party, Armie."

"Exactly, I can do whatever I want."

"Stop it, it´s okay."

"Tim, I´m serious. If you want, we get in the car right now and drive over to the house. You talk to her, see if she´s okay, then we´ll come back. There´s a lot of food and booze, no one will notice we left."

Timothée bites his lip, his eyes wandering from Armie to the group of people dancing and chatting in the middle of the room. He has this pain in his chest for a few minutes now, an indescribable need to see his mother and talk to her. After nearly three weeks, he knows it´s time to sort things out.

"Okay, maybe you´re right. I should go talk to her before my courage wears off."

"Let´s go then."

Timothée nods and takes Armie´s hand, quietly following him out of the record store. He squeezes his hand, smiling as Armie looks down at him with kindness filled eyes.

****  
  
  


***************

****  
  


Armie parks the car outside the house, gripping tight onto the steering wheel before he turns to Timothée, who is sitting quietly on the passenger seat, his eyes locked on the house. He smiles softly, reaches out for him and squeezes his shoulder, catching his attention. 

He can see the thousand emotions that are filling his eyes right now, the slightly nervous smile that he has on his face and Armie wishes he could send it away. Sadly, Armie knows there´s nothing he can do about this right now, only once Timothée has actually talked to his mother he will feel better.

He pushes some of his hair behind his ear, leans their foreheads together and places a soft kiss on his lips, smiling as Timothée holds tight onto his arm, keeping him close for a minute more.

"You want me to go in there with you?"

"No," Timothée says quickly. "Thank you for offering, but this is something we have to do just the two of us. With you there, she might not feel comfortable sharing everything."

"Okay. I´ll be waiting for you here then, call me if you need anything."

"Thank you," he whispers before kissing him once again.

Armie smiles, watching as Timothée hops off of the car and slowly walks through the front yard, his hands clenched and his body rigid. He leans back on the seat, closes his eyes for a second and takes a couple of deep breaths, trying to relax his body. 

A small smile appears on his lips as the memories of the day flood his head, the amount of fun he had throughout the whole day and how happy he was to celebrate his birthday with his friends and Timothée. 

He opens his eyes, a sigh escaping him as he looks around the street, watching a couple of teenagers walking down the street, some of them with skates under their arms, while others push their bikes. He goes to turn on the stereo, but stops once he hears something break and a scream echo in the quiet night, which sends a shiver down his spine.

Without even giving much thought, Armie grabs his phone and keys, jumps out of the car and runs to the house, pushing the door open. He stops for a second, eyes wide as he sees Timothée crawling on the floor towards Eleanor, who lies with her head leaned against the couch, her eyes tired and her hand shaking.

With his body trembling, Armie´s eyes wander around the room, seeing frames, tables and chairs on the ground, glass scattered close to the couch and to his despair, Matthew standing across the room. He has his eyes down, but his clothes and hair are messy and in his hand, he holds a gun.

Armie swallows dryly, taking slow and quiet steps further inside, trying his best not to make much noise. His mind is spinning and he doesn´t know what to do or say, he just knows he has to do something to stop things from going further. What he sees right now is a situation doomed for tragedy and he can´t have that.

His plan goes to waste when Matthew takes a step towards Timothée, the gun still hanging on his hand as he reaches down and grabs Timothée by the shirt, pushing him away from Eleanor, who groans. With wide eyes, Armie watches as Timothée grabs a hold of Matthew´s shirt, keeping him away from his mother, only to have him push him down to the floor.

His breathing is heavy now, his body shaking more than ever before, but he rushes forward, attracting the eyes of Matthew, who calmly stands his arm out, the gun now pointed into Armie´s direction. He stops immediately, from the corner of his eyes watching as Timothée crawls over to Matthew, rage in his eyes. He wants to tell him to stop, tell him to keep quiet, but he fears anything he does right now might only make things worse.

When Timothée kicks Matthew´s legs, the man stumbles to the side and the gun fires off. Armie throws himself down immediately, wincing at the loud sound that echoes through the house. From the ground, he watches Matthew turn to Timothée and grab him by the throat, punching him. He pushes himself up, runs over to them and tries to take a hold of Matthew, who pushes him back before swinging another punch into Timothée, throwing him down on the floor afterwards.

Armie screams, launching himself on top of Matthew and tackling him to the ground. The man squirms under him, but Armie keeps a tight hold of his neck, his blue eyes staring down at him for a good minute before he swings punch after punch on him, watching as the blood starts to flow from his nose.

Matthew reaches out for Armie´s hand, twisting it to the side, watching as Armie groans in pain and tumbles to the side. He takes the opportunity to reach out for him, grabs him by the shirt and slams him down on the floor, his hand squeezing his neck as he looks around the room. The gun has fallen down, too far from his reach, but as he sees the phone lying on the floor, a maniac like smile takes over his face.

Armie tries to gasp for air, his hands trying effortlessly to reach out for Matthew and push him away. He feels his whole body start to go rigid, a burning sensation radiating from his throat and his mouth go dry. He feels fear as he never felt before in his life as his vision starts to get blurred and Matthew holds the phone above his face, in his eyes nothing but madness and hate. He´s gonna swing that phone down his face, that´s all Armie can think about, and once he does, Armie won´t be able to do anything to help Timothée.

He tries to speak, tries to move, but nothing happens. He is trapped, at Matthew´s mercy and there is absolutely nothing he can do. This might be it, his life might be reaching it´s final moments and what bigger irony than for that to happen on his birthday.

He feels his whole body about to collapse, Matthew´s arm swings back, his grip on his neck intensifies and then...

"Put it down now," Timothée´s voice echoes in the house.

Matthew´s grip loosens a bit, the phone falls down to the ground right beside Armie´s face and through his blurred vision, Armie can see Timothée standing there, the gun in his hand as he aims it at Matthew.

"Get away from him."

"You should put that thing down, boy."

"Get away from him."

"You´re gonna hurt yourself with that, faggot, just put it down."

"Get away from him," Timothée screams, his hands shaking as he takes a step closer to Matthew.

Armie shakes his head, trying to say something but his voice is gone for the moment and he can barely breathe. His eyes wander from Timothée to Matthew, who slowly gets up, a mischievous smile on his face as he opens his arms and takes a step in Timothée´s direction.

"Do it. Shoot me. Kill me right here and right now. You know you want to."

Timothée´s breathing is heavy, his hands are shaking uncontrollably and his eyes keep wandering back to Armie, who remains mostly still on the floor.

"C´mon," Matthew screams. "Shoot me, isn´t that what you want? Do it, or I´m gonna take that gun away from you and I will kill you three right now."

Armie massages his throat, the pain in his face and eyes subsiding as he manages to get on his knees. He can´t breathe properly still, but slowly he finds himself getting better, his vision becoming more clear.

"You think I ruined your life, right? So kill me now and get this over with."

Timothée can´t control the tears from falling down his cheeks, his chest heaving as he starts to sob. His finger presses against the trigger, a voice inside of him screaming for him to get this over with, free him and his mother from all the pain this man has inflicted on them.

"Don´t," Armie manages to let it out, shaking his head as he stands up behind Matthew, his eyes locked on Timothée. "Dont... don´t do this, Tim."

"He´s never gonna stop," he says between sobs, locking eyes with Armie. "He will always be here to haunt us."

"You bet I will."

"Don´t listen to him." Armie´s words come in between heavy breaths,  his chest burning with each word he says. "You don´t want to do this, Timothée. This is not who you are."

"He won´t stop, Armie. He won´t stop until we´re dead."

"That might be closer than you think."

"Shut up," Timothée screams at Matthew, while trying to control his tears. 

"Timothée, please put that gun down."

"Armie..."

"Listen to me, Tim, please."

"I...I can´t..."

"You will ruin your life if you do this, Timothée. You are seventeen, you have so much ahead of you, do not let him ruin your future."

"But..."

"Put the gun down, Tim, please."

Timothée bites his lip, slowly putting his arms down, his eyes remaining on Armie, until he sees Matthew dart towards him with wide eyes. He recoils, his own eyes going wide when he sees Armie run over to Matthew and tackle him to the ground, his arm instantly wrapped around his neck.

Armie uses all the strength that is left in him to restrain Matthew, his arm tightening around his neck until the man stops fighting back. He throws him to the ground, holding him down for a minute before throwing a punch, watching as he goes silent seconds later. He sighs, throwing himself down on the floor as he does his best to get his breathing back to normal. 

He blinks a couple of times, his body heavy and his eyes nearly about to shut when Timothée crawls to him, his trembling hands reaching out for him. Armie sits down on the floor, wrapping his arms around Timothée, who sobs onto his chest, clinging onto his shirt.

"It´s okay," he whispers while reaching for his back pocket, taking his phone in his hands. 

Armie is about to dial the police when he feels Timothée´s grip loosen up, his body going pliant against his. He looks down, pushing some of his curls back and lets his eyes go wide as Timothée slowly collapses on top of him.

"Tim?" He shakes him slightly, his hands trembling. "Tim, please, talk to me."

Timothée remains in silence and Armie feels his heart pound inside his chest.

"Timothée!" **  
**


	46. Chapter 46

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life goes on...

Venice Ink  
Part 46

 

As his consciousness starts to come back, the weird taste in his mouth is the first thing he notices; it´s like dried blood and bad medicine, a combination that he's experienced before and it wasn´t at all pleasant. The strange smell that fills his nostrils comes right after it, it´s something he can´t quite grasp, but it nearly makes him nauseous. He is cold, his body hurts in many different places, his head is pounding more than ever before and the knowledge of something hooked to his arm scares him.  
He´s confused, his head spinning with little fragments of memory he tries to put together to complete the puzzle. His mother lying on the ground, Matthew aiming a gun to Armie, his head hitting the ground, small bits of glass cutting his hand, Matthew´s loud voice telling him to shoot, Armie´s voice and the loud thud of the gun hitting the ground. Is all mixed together, flashing through his mind in a blur, causing his heart to pound inside his chest and sweat to pour down his forehead.  
He feels a gentle touch on his forehead, swiping off the sweat and pushing his hair back. It´s a well known touch, the only one who manages to calm him down in every single situation, the gentle touch of the person who saved his life. Slowly, he opens his eyes, the brightness of the room hurting him, but he fights through it, blinking a couple of times until his vision gets used to it.   
Armie´s sweet smile is the first thing he sees, his blue eyes filled with worry. He smiles back at him, wetting his lips before he tries to speak, only to get caught in a coughing fit. Carefully, Armie helps him raise his head and gives him some water, the liquid soothing his throat and helping him get rid of the awful taste that still lingered in his mouth.  
"Hey there," Armie nearly whispers, a couple of tears already forming on his eyes. "You scared the shit out of me, you know that, right?"  
"I´m sorry."  
"Don´t be. You´re gonna be alright and that´s all that matters."  
"W-what happened?"  
"You hit your head pretty bad and got a concussion. There were also some cuts in your hand, bits of glasses they had to take it out. The doctor ran some tests on you, to make sure everything was alright and decided you should get some saline. He said they didn´t find anything, you´ll be able to go home tomorrow, you´ll just need rest."  
Timothée nods slowly, closing his eyes for a brief second. He reaches out for Armie´s hand, squeezing it in between his and sighs.  
"How´s my mom, Armie? Please, tell me she´s alright."  
"Your mom´s situation is a bit more complicated, Tim." As Timothée tears up, Armie can tell he is about to move and force himself up, but he gently lays his hand down on his shoulder, trying to soothe him. "Hey, you can calm down."  
"What is going on with her, Armie?"  
"He beat her up pretty bad, she had a couple of broken bones, some might have been broken for over a week. She had to go through surgery, but the doctor told me she will be alright."  
"I wanna see her."  
"You can´t," Armie says softly, caressing his cheek. "Right now, she´s still in the ICU, but he told me they will be moving her by tomorrow morning. Only then you´ll be able to see her, besides, you really need rest if you want to leave tomorrow."  
Timothée shakes his head, his silent tears scrolling down his cheek as he tries to keep himself calm.  
"This is all my fault."  
"What are you talking about?"  
"I left her all alone with him for weeks, Armie. I let my anger consume me and left her completely alone, I failed with her and now she´s hurt because of me."  
"No, no, no. Don´t you dare say something like this, Timothée. This is all Matthew´s fault, no one else´s."  
"I should have talked to her sooner."  
"Stop, this is not on you. And I won´t let you blame yourself for the atrocities that man did."  
Timothée wipes away his tears, rubbing his eyes softly before he arches an eyebrow, his eyes wandering through Armie´s body. He was so caught up on what he was feeling and his mother, he is just now noticing the black eye, redness around his lips and the bandage in his right arm.  
"Your arm..."  
"Just a twisted wrist, nothing for you to worry about. The doctor checked me, gave me some medicine for my throat, but I´m alright."  
"Are you sure?"  
"Yes, I´m sure. It doesn´t even hurt anymore."  
"Fuck, I´m so sorry. The amount of stress I have put you through ever since we met, this is not fair to you."  
"Yes, there has been some stress, but I have never felt so much love as I have since I met you. I wouldn´t change anything, Timothée."  
"There must be something you would change."  
"This is our story, this was how it was supposed to play out from the beginning. Through ups and downs, I´m just glad we´re here."  
Timothée smiles, his hand cradling Armie´s face and bringing him closer, planting a soft kiss on his lips, but pulling away when Armie winces.  
"I thought it wasn´t hurting anymore."  
"Well, I wasn´t kissing anyone."  
"Good to know," he chuckles. He takes a deep breath, his smile disappearing as he realizes there´s still one thing he needs to know.  
"What´s wrong?" Armie asks as soon as he notices the change in Timothée´s expression.  
"M-Mathew, what happened with him?"  
"He´s in jail."  
Timothée´s heart starts to pound once again, his hands trembling.  
"Please, please, don´t lie to me right now."  
"I´m not lying. As soon as you passed out, I called the cops and an ambulance, lucky for me the cops got there before he was fully awake. My mom called Mrs. Richardson and she went to the police, she´ll be taking care of everything over there."  
"Oh, thank God."  
"She called and said the police will be here in a couple of hours to talk to you."  
Timothée nods. "I´ll tell them whatever they want to hear. I´m just happy this nightmare is over, Armie."  
"It is over, you and your mom are gonna be safe now."  
"I can´t believe this is actually happening." He smiles through his tears, gently caressing Armie´s cheeks. "Oh, there´s something else..."  
"You really should rest."  
"I will, just let me say this."  
Armie chuckles, nodding his head. "Okay, go on."  
"Thank you for talking me out of doing something I would regret later on."  
"You don´t have to thank me, Tim."  
"I do. I was in a really weird mindspace at that point, I just wanted to end things right there, I didn´t think straight, but you brought my sanity back and I´ll always be thankful for that. I love you."

 

************

 

Armie is tired, his body is heavy and the pain in his throat  comes back from time to time. He wants to sleep, forget about the events of the night and just focus on the future, but he knows that is not something possible. While Timothée and Eleanor are in the hospital, he won´t be able to actually unwind enough to sit down and rest, let alone sleep.  
He stops by the coffee machine in the middle of the corridor, grabs a small cup and fills it to the brink, taking a few sips of it while he walks back to the waiting room. He sighs, watching as his friends and his mother all get up, worried and curious looks on their faces.  
"How is him?" Lois is the first to ask, her hand rubbing against her shoulder as she usually does when nervous.   
"He´s awake and doing fine. The doctor wants to run some tests again, but only for precaution, he´ll be going back home tomorrow."  
"Thank God."  
"What about his mother, anything new about her?"  
"She´s responding well to the medication given, but she´ll remain in the ICU until the morning. The doctor said while she will need intense care in the next few days, her life is not at risk."  
"This is good," Julia says while taking Armie´s hand in hers. "They´ll make it through this and live their lives the way they always deserved."  
Armie nods, tears coming to his eyes as his mom wraps her arms around his body. He buries his face in her neck, letting his tears fall and chuckles as he feels his friends approach them and hug him too.  
"Thank you guys for being here, I don´t know if I would be able to make it here all alone. I was so scared, I wasn´t even thinking straight."  
"You did a great job, son. I´m so proud of you."  
Armie smiles, leaning against his mother´s touch for a brief moment, before he lets out a sigh. He tries to shake off the tiredness and the sadness that keeps consuming him whenever the image of Timothée holding that gun comes back to his mind, but he knows that will linger inside his brain for a long time. Maybe even forever.  
"Maybe you should go eat something, bro."  
"I´m not hungry, Jake."  
"You should still try," he insists, laying a hand on Armie´s shoulder. "You need to be healthy if you want to be there for Timothée and his mom."  
Armie sighs, burying his face in his hands before he looks back at his best friend, nodding his head slowly.  
"I guess you´re right."  
"C´mon, I´ll go with you."  
Armie nods once again and follows Jake down the hallway, his eyes down the whole time, the memories of the night flooding him over and over again. He walks inside the small cafeteria, sits down on one of the empty tables and watches as Jake heads to the counter and makes the order.   
Quietly, his fingers trace the table, his eyes wandering around the place. There are so many people sitting there, each one of them with a different story, a different trauma; some aware they are going through their last moments with their loved ones, some clinging onto hope for better days.  
He turns to Jake as the stands by the table, sliding a croissant and a tall glass of orange juice in his direction. He bites his lip, but chuckles as Jake points to the croissant, a stern look on his face. He nods his head, reaching for the plate until he spots someone familiar walk inside the cafeteria and towards him.  
"What are you doing here?"  
Jake arches an eyebrow, turning around to see Viktor standing there. He has a serious look on his face, his body rigid and hands tucked inside his pockets. Scratching the back of his head, Jake turns back to Armie and gives him a small smile while patting his back.  
"I´ll leave you two alone," he says. "Don´t forget to eat your croissant."  
Viktor smiles softly at Jake, giving him a quick hug before he takes a few steps closer to Armie, leaning against the chair across from him.  
"Mom called and told me what happened."  
"And..."  
"And I was wondering how you and your boyfriend were doing."  
"You don´t even remember his name, huh?"  
Viktor sighs, his knuckles turning pale as he holds tighter onto the chair. "I was just wondering how you´re doing, Armie."  
"Because now you care?"  
"I´m sorry, okay?"  
"You´re gonna have to do more than that, Viktor." Armie stares at his brother, a mix of anger and frustration inside of him. "You have any idea of how I felt after you said those things to me?"  
"You have any idea of how I felt when you left without looking back?"  
There´s a moment of silence and Armie looks down, shaking his head. He isn´t sure he is ready to have this conversation right now, not when Timothée and his mother are going through such a delicate moment.  
He looks up when Viktor pulls on the chair and sits down, his hands resting on the table. He´s clearly nervous, Armie can tell his leg is bouncing furiously, something he does since he was a child.   
"Armie, I´m angry all the time. I can´t figure out what to do with myself, because I don´t think I´m good enough for anything. I don´t know who I am, and I don´t know how to ask for help. So I started to lash out on everything and everyone around me, and you were an easy target."  
"You could have reached out and talked to me."  
"You distanced yourself from us, Armie. You ignored mom´s calls, you didn´t attend the things dad planned with us. I felt like you didn´t want us around you, and that hurt me more than anything, because I always looked up to you more than to anyone else."  
"For a while I thought distancing myself would be the best way to deal with the pain and uncertainty I felt after I left, Vik. Everything happened so fast, when I moved here I experienced a moment of doubt and end up making bad choices. I never meant to hurt you or anyone, though."  
Viktor nods, taking a deep breath. "Mom wants me to start therapy, she says it will be good for me to get rid of all this anger inside of me."  
"She´s right."  
"I don´t like talking to strangers, though."  
"It´s not gonna be easy in the beginning, but I´m sure you can get used to it."  
"Look," Viktor starts, scratching his neck. "I said horrible things to you that day, I inflicted an unnecessary pain in you and I regret it. Dad´s mistakes are not your fault, neither is mom´s sadness or my issues. You figured out what you needed to be happy and you went after it, I should try and do the same. I´m sorry and I hope we can find a way to rebuild our relationship."  
"It´s not easy for me to simply forgive you, Vik. You hurt me, you left me wondering if I really was that monster you pictured me as."  
"I´m not asking for anything immediate, I know I have a lot of work to do."  
"But since we´re here, I want to apologize too. I shouldn´t have walked away the way I did, you didn´t deserve that."  
Viktor nods, shyly standing his hand out. He waits a couple of seconds until Armie gives him a small smile and takes his hand, shaking it.  
"How is Timothée?"  
"He´s alright, just in need of rest. His mom is a bit more complicated, but the doctor told me she will be okay."  
"Mom told me about their situation, it´s crazy to think people might go through things like this every single day and..."

  
************

 

  
Timothée sighs, fixing the pillows before he leans back on it, closing his eyes for a brief second. He hears the door open, looks over to the side and smiles from the corner of his lips as he sees Armie walk in, a hospital tray in his hands and his usual kind eyes and sweet smile. He watches as he struggles to close the door behind him, letting out a loud sigh as he finally does it and then walks over to him, placing the tray down as he sits on the edge of the bed.  
"What you doing with this tray, mister?"  
"The nurse was coming in to give you food, so I hijacked the tray and brought it myself."  
"Shouldn´t you be at home, Armie?"  
"Why would I be home?"  
"You need to rest, Armie. The last few hours have been really crazy, you should go get some sleep and eat some proper food."  
"I´m not going anywhere while you´re here, Tim."  
"There are doctors and nurses everywhere, I will be totally fine."  
"The whole US Army could be standing outside this door, I still wouldn´t leave you here on your own."  
Timothée smiles, nodding slowly as he reaches for Armie´s hand, his fingers gently tracing the bandages on his wrist. He looks at it with sadness, pain in his chest as he thinks this was all caused because of him somehow.  
"How you´re feeling?"  
"I´m alright," he assures Armie, who shoots him a look. "I´m serious, Armie."  
"Really? Because if you feel anything, you have to tell the doctor and make sure..."  
"I know that and I´ve already told him all I´m feeling is a bit of a headache, but he said this is normal, so unless it becomes unbearable, there´s nothing for us to worry about."  
Armie nods, tucking a few strands of hair behind his ear before he cradles his face, his thumb caressing his skin.  
"What about your hand? Are they sure it´s nothing serious?"  
"Yeah, the doctor said as long as I don´t apply any pressure on it, I should be fine in a week. He prescribed me some pills, to take in case it hurts, but he said I´ll be fine."  
"Are you gonna be able to paint during this week?"  
"He said I could, as long as I take long pauses in between the work, but it would be better if I just used my wrist if it was extremely necessary."  
They look at each other, smirks on their faces, which causes them to laugh. Thank God they can still find humour in the little things, bring some much needed lightness to their lives.  
"Zac came here earlier, he told me Viktor showed up here."  
"Yes, he did."  
"How was it?"  
"I suppose it went well, I doubt any of us actually thought it would only take one conversation to sort everything out, but at least we took a step forward. He said he´s gonna look for a therapist, work on his anger and he also said he was sorry for the things he said and the way he acted."  
"I know it might not be easy, it never is, but you should do whatever you can to make sure you two can restore your relationship, Armie. You don´t wanna lose your brother forever."  
Armie nods, a little smile on his face. "Don´t worry about that, I will do my best to make sure we can fix this."  
Timothée nods and leans forward, planting a soft kiss on Armie´s lips. He pulls away, but keeps his forehead pressed against his, their noses brushing together as he smiles.  
"Have you heard anything new about my mom? The silence is killing me."  
"I saw her just a couple of minutes ago," he says while Timothée´s eyes go wide. "Through a glass window, she´s still sedated, but the doctor told me she is doing fine. I asked him if you will be able to see her before being discharged, and he guarantees that you will be with her by tomorrow afternoon...or today, I don´t even know what time it is anymore."  
"Thank you, and seriously go get some rest. You´ve been here for so long, you don´t even know what time it is."  
"I´m not leaving you alone, can you understand that?"  
Timothée sighs, but nods his head anyway, slowly moving to the side as Armie smiles and does his best to lie down beside him on the bed. He closes his eyes, resting his head against his chest and smiles as he intertwines their fingers. 

  
************

  
Timothée never really liked hospitals, but then again, he doubts anyone actually does. It´s cold, and even on your best days, it always seems like bad things are just around the corner, ready to jump on you and ruin everything. Luckily for him, he only had to endure a couple of hours inside that place, but his mother wasn´t as lucky. After a few hours of sleep and some quick tests, the doctor finally discharged him, but his mother had just now been moved to a bedroom, where she would stay for at least four more days.   
Timothée hated the idea of leaving her there on her own, but at the same time, he knew she needed all the help she could get. She deserved a good life, to bounce back on her feet and finally achieve the things she had always wanted, but first she would have to go through a slow and maybe a bit painful recovery.  
And he knew it wasn´t only a physical thing, because she would also have to do a lot of emotional work to make it through it all. Matthew left scars that time might not be able to heal, but both Timothée and Eleanor would have to learn how to live with them. It wouldn´t be easy, of that he was sure, but it was something they would have to do and luckily, they had each other to lean on throughout all of this. Each other and all of their friends, who have time and time again showed they can always count on them.  
"Hey, are you okay?" Armie asks while squeezing his hand.  
"Yeah," Timothée nods. "I mean, I guess it is."  
"Okay, tell me what´s wrong." Armie says as he stops and turns to look at Timothée, who shakes his head. "You know you can tell me everything, Tim, just let it out."  
"I´m just thinking about the future, Armie. Things have been hell for me and my mom until last night, but now a whole different kind of abuse comes to us. Because going through everything he did to us, having to repeat it day after day to the police, have people around us whisper things about our past, unleashing memories that I might have locked away for fear of letting it consume me. Although Matthew is not a legitimate threat to us, it isn´t over yet."  
Armie sighs, cradling Timothée´s face in his hands. "I´m so sorry. I know the emotional side of all of this can be a lot more painful than the physical, and while I will never be able to fully understand what you and your mother feel, I can tell you with all my heart that I will always be here for you two. Remember when I said I want you to count on me forever, no matter if we´re together or not?"  
"Yes," he nods.  
"I mean it, Timothée. You and your mother, you can count on me for everything you need."  
"Thank you, Armie. I know you´ll be here for whatever I need." Timothée tries to smile, leans in and places a soft kiss on his lips, pulling away when he hears footsteps approaching them. He looks over his shoulder, a shy look on his face as Doctor Herrman stands there, looking at them. "Sorry."  
"No need to apologize. When you work on a place like this, seeing the things we do every day, demonstrations of love are almost like medicine."  
Timothée nods, but blushes anyway, his eyes following the doctor that walks past them and over to the last door in the corridor.   
"Armie, I´m gonna ask you to stay here and wait for Timothée. We can´t have many people at once in the room, specially for a patience that just left ICU."  
"Of course, I´ll just wait for him here."  
"And Timothée, I´m sure all you want is to be with your mother right now, but she´s still very weak and can´t speak much."  
"I promise I won´t take long, Doctor Herrman, I just need to see her before I leave."   
"You can come in now."  
"Thanks," Timothée nearly whispers before opening the door, taking in a deep breath as he slowly walks over to his mother, his fingers tracing the bed before he sits on the edge, catching her attention.   
Eleanor is pale, there´s bandages on her arm and around her ribs, not to mention the dozen of bruises all over her face and shoulders. And this is only what Timothée can actually see, because he´s pretty sure there´s a lot more.  
"Mom," he whispers as tears stream down his cheeks. "Mom, I´m so sorry."  
"This is not your fault, Timothée." Her voice is low, raspy and it breaks from time to time, but there´s a sparkle in her eyes as she stares at Timothée. "This is all on him."  
"I shouldn´t have left you alone, mom. I knew the risk you were going through, yet I allowed my anger to speak louder than my common sense. I should have protected you."  
"You did all you could to protect me, Tim, even if that was not your job."  
"I´m sorry."  
"Don´t be. You were rightfully mad at me, I shouldn´t have lied, I shouldn´t have brought Matthew into your life. I am the one who needs to apologize."  
"You were the best mom I could have asked for, don´t ever think otherwise. You are a fighter, mom, and just like you survived Matthew, you´ll survive this too. Soon enough you´ll be home, happy and healthy."  
"How´s Armie?"  
"He´s doing great."  
"I don´t remember much, but I know he was there."  
"He saved us, mom."  
"I knew you had chosen him well." Timothée nods, trying to control his tears as Eleanor slowly pulls him closer, burying his face in her chest and gently kissing his hair. "You should go, sweetie. I need rest and so do you."  
"Yeah, the doctor told me not to take too long. But I´ll be back tomorrow, okay?"  
"Okay."  
"You´re gonna be alright, mom."  
"I will, because if there´s one thing I want, is to see you reach everything you always wanted."  
"I love you, mom, please never doubt that."  
"I never did."  
Timothée smiles, kisses her forehead and gets up, letting out a sigh. He takes her hand in his, strokes it with thumb and then plants a kiss on her palm, before walking out of the bedroom. He looks back at her, watching as she leans her head down and closes her eyes, then closes the door. He remains there for a brief moment, allowing his tears to stop on their own and his breathing to settle down, when he feels a hand on his shoulder.  
He looks back, smiles softly at Armie and swiftly wraps his arms around his waist, hugging him as tight as he possibly can. He grabs his shirt, buries his face in the crook of his neck and takes in a deep breath, taking in his scent and slowly calming down.  
"Are you okay?"  
"You ask me that an awful lot."  
Armie chuckles, stroking his hair. "Ready to go home?"  
Timothée nods, while looking up at Armie. "Yes, I am."

 

*************

 

  
Timothée keeps his arm wrapped around Armie´s waist as they walk down the front yard, he is tired and yet he knows he won´t be able to sleep any time soon. His body -and mind- is experiencing an awful lot of things all at the same time, and as much as he tries, he can´t seem to unwind enough to actually get the rest he deserves.   
He looks up at Armie, smiling softly at him as he squeezes his shoulder and places a tender kiss on his temple. He has been so patient and kind, Timothée couldn´t imagine going through such thing with anyone else by his side. Armie walked into his life at the exact right time, otherwise he doubts he would be able to maintain his sanity throughout all of this.  
They open the front door, stopping immediately as they see all their friends standing there, colorful balloons spread around the living room, and a banner hanging from the ceiling. Armie chuckles, shaking his head as Timothée looks from their friends to him, cocking an eyebrow.  
"Are you involved in this?"  
"Absolutely not," Armie says with an amused tone to his voice. "I swear to God, this is all on them."  
Timothée stares at him for a second, trying to figure out if he believes him or not, but chuckles. He turns back to his friends, which all have wide smiles on their faces. He smiles at Lois, who walks to him, cradles his face and places a soft kiss on his cheek.  
"We know you must be tired, but we´re all really happy to have you home so soon, so we decided to do this little thing. I hope you don´t mind."  
"Lois, you guys are the best friends I could have asked for." He kisses her cheek, wraps an arm around her shoulder and smiles over at his friends. "Thank you guys, it´s really nice to have you all here with me right now. God knows the last twenty hours have not been the easiest ones in my life, and even if I didn´t spend much time in the hospital, being home is always better."  
"The thought of something happening to you scared the crap out of us," Jake admits as Mark nods. "So, please, never do this again."  
"You don´t have to worry about that."  
As Armie slides a hand down his back, Timothée turns his attention to him, his face much more relaxed now. Maybe what he needs right now is not rest, but the company of the people he loves.  
"Why don´t you go sit down, I´m gonna go get you something to eat."  
"Thank you," he kisses Armie softly, smiles back at Lois, then walks over to the couch, a sigh escaping him as he leans back. He closes his eyes for a brief second, the chatter and low music filling his ear, bringing him some much needed peace.  
"Hey," Zac says softly, his hand resting on Timothée´s shoulder. "How you doing, bro?"  
"I feel like I´m still processing everything that happened."  
"But are you feeling better? Physically, at least."  
"Yes. None of my wounds were very deep, so there´s not much for me to worry about and the headache is gone, so I guess I just need a good night of sleep and I´ll be back to normal."  
"And your mom? How she doing?"  
"It´s gonna take her a while to recover from this, Zac. I could see in her eyes the pain she was going through, even if she was trying to look optimistic in front of me."  
Zac nods, biting his lip as he stares at Timothée in complete silence.  
"What? What you wanna say?"  
"Back at the hospital you told me you were not sure if it was a good idea for your mom to go back to that house after everything that happened, which I fully agreed, so I talked to my parents..."  
"Zac, there´s really no need to..."  
"Let me finish," he says as Timothée nods. "They have this little two bedroom apartment on the beach, is on top of one of the stores and they said you and your mom can stay there for a while."  
"Zac, we don´t have any money."  
"Who´s talking about money? Your mom needs a place for her to rest and recover, and while I believe Armie would love to bring her here, there´s no room for four people inside this house. You and her can stay there while you get back on your feet, no need to pay for anything."  
"That´s not fair, your parents..."  
"My parents know you since you were a baby and they were devastated when they found out what you were going through, Tim. There was this girl living in the apartment until three days ago, but now that she left, they think this is the best way they can help you, so let them do it."  
Timothée remains in silence for a moment, his eyes locked on Zac´s. He sighs, nods his head slowly and brings his friend closer, hugging him tight.  
"Thank you, for everything."  
"I wish I had done more."  
"Your friendship is enough, trust me."  
"Is everything okay?" Armie asks, sitting next to Timothée on the couch, a plate and a glass of juice in his hands.  
Timothée looks from Zac to him, a wide smile appearing on his lips as he nods his head.   
"Yeah, everything´s good."


End file.
